With no economic news to speak of, investors will be watching the trading update from Royal Mail with interest on Tuesday as it headlines a day with a number of companies set to release trading updates.
Specifically, investors will want to see any update on parcel volumes and the possible effects of competition.
Any further pressure on margins will be worth noting and expect management to continue to describe trading conditions as ‘challenging’.
Still, strong growth and higher profits will likely be met with caution as regulator Ofcom announced last week that it will switch the focus of its ongoing investigation into Royal Mail to whether, through recent market changes, the company has been left in a too-dominant position.
With the first quarter expected to be a fairly quiet quarter for Royal Mail, UBS said it expects the company to be in-line with forecasts for the full year.
It expects letter volumes to be down 4% and letter revenue down 3%; while parcel volumes are forecast to rise 1.5% and revenue 0.5% for the full year.
Royal Mail's share price has outperformed so far this year helped by problems at CityLink and Whistl.
Elsewhere, investors will be wary of further write-down announcements from BHP Billiton as it will likely be hurt by a falling iron price, despite the expectation that production will continue to rise in line with its peers Rio Tinto and Anglo American.
Tuesday
Final: IG Group (LON:IGG), PZ Cussons (LON:PZC).
Trading statement: Cable & Wireless Communications (LON:CWC), Royal Mail (LON:RMG), BHP Billiton (LON:BLT), Cable & Wireless Communications (LON:CWC), Science in Sport (LON:SIS)
Economic: UK – Public sector finances.