The FTSE 100 Slides – Here’s What to Watch This Week

The FTSE 100 is trading at 7,965 in early Monday trading on April 15, 2024, falling 0.38%, following Friday’s 0.91% gain. The London blue-chip index closed up 71.78 points at 7,995.65 on Friday.

EARNINGS RELEASES & ECONOMIC EVENTS

There are a few key UK economic data releases on the calendar this week. On Tuesday, there is UK unemployment data, with the forecast expecting unemployment to creep up to 4% from the previous 3.9% reading. 

The UK will report inflation data on Wednesday. The current forecast is for the year-on-year inflation rate to have slowed to 3.1% in March, down from 3.4%. The forecast is for core inflation to have slowed to 4.3% from 4.5%. 

Finally, on Friday morning, the UK will report retail sales data, which is expected to come in at 0.2%, up from the previous 0% reading. 

The UK corporate diary is extremely busy, with Ceres Power posting a trading update today and further updates expected from companies such as Entain (Wednesday), EasyJet (Thursday), AJ Bell (Thursday), and Rentokil (Thursday) later this week. In addition, Inchcape announced Monday that it will sell its UK retail operations to Group 1 Automotive UK.

FOREX & GOLD

As of 08:06 am, the pound has risen around 0.19% to 1.2468 on Monday, after closing Friday's session at 1.2444. Meanwhile, the euro has climbed by 0.15%  to 1.0654 after closing Friday at 1.0638. 

The geopolitical situation in the Middle East over the weekend increased the volatility at the open for FX and commodities on Sunday night, which is something to keep an eye out for.

Gold is currently at $2,355. On Friday last week, the yellow metal hit a new all-time high above $2,400 before a strong pullback in the afternoon saw it close the week at $2,344.