Monetary tightening stateside will be a theme next week but there will also be a smattering of corporate news to chew over for investors, with, notably discount store Poundland (LON:PLND) and home developer Berkeley (LON:BKGH) set to report.
The issue of when the Fed will raise interest rates has been rearing its head for some months now, and the policy FOMC meeting and the ensuing statement will be closely followed on Wednesday, June 17, primarily for that reason.
Heavyweight Swiss broker UBS noted last week: "The policy statement is likely to sound a bit more positive relative to the April statement, although any change is unlikely to signal that tightening is imminent.
"We continue to expect the first rate hike to be announced at the September 16-17 FOMC meeting."
Poundland (LON:PLND) has been going for 25 years, It is a stock closely watched at the moment, not least due to its attempt to buy close rival 99p Stores and last month invited authorities to conduct a full-review into the proposed tie-up worth £55mln.
No doubt investors will be keen to get an update on this. In the Phase 1 review, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the deal could lead to a "sUBStantial lessening of competition” in 80 areas where the two chains overlap.
The firm wants the watchdog begin a full review, or Phase II, which is an in-depth 23-week study of the deal.
Meanwhile, Berkeley Group, on the rise in recent years, reports full year numbers on Thursday and analyst David Madden at IG Index reckons it can now plan for the next five years knowing that a Conservative government will help the housebuilder.
"The company is at the higher end of the homebuilders, and the share price took a knock in the run up to the election for fear of Ed Miliband being in Downing Street, but the Tory majority has since rejuvenated confidence in the firm," he said.
Market consensus is for revenue of £1.89bn and adjusted net income of £374 million - representing a 16% rise in revenue and a 28% increase in adjusted net income.
The homebuilder will also report its second-half numbers on Thursday and the market is anticipating revenue of £940mln against first-half revenue of £1.02bn.
In the first six months, the number of homes sold was down 40%, while the firm reported a 24% rise in revenue and an 80% jump in first-half profits.
Now that the political uncertainty has been cleared up the company can map out its five-year plan with confidence, said Madden.
Significant announcements due -
Monday
Majestic Wine (LON:MJW)
Tuesday
Whitbread PLC (LON:WTB), Ashtead Group (LON:AHT)
Wednesday
Berkeley Group (LON: BKGH), Betfair Group (LON: BETF)
Thursday
Darty (LON:DTRY), Poundland (LON:PLND)