The highlight of the week will be on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve announces its decision on whether or not to raise interest rates.
As at Friday afternoon, the Fed Fund Futures, a tool used to determine the likelihood of a Fed rate rise, suggested there was an 83% chance of a rise next week.
Christopher Vecchio, currency analyst, at DailyFX said: “We believe that a Fed rate hike is a "lock" after the November Non-farm payrolls.”
Away from the actual decision, Investec said: “The bigger question is how the Fed defines a ‘gradual’ pace of tightening, with markets currently pricing in a slower pace of tightening than both the Fed’s last ‘dot plot’ and our own forecasts.”
The broker said Fed chair Janet Yellen’s comments during the press conference will be “as relevant for the markets as the actual decision”.
On the very limited corporate front, Dixons Carphone reports its half year results on Wednesday.
Investors will be keen to see if the company can keep the robust performance from a year ago, which was boosted by the release of the iPhone 6, going this year.
Keith Bowman at Hargreaves Lansdown said investors will also be looking for “a potential positive read-across for Black Friday weekend sales having come from recent John Lewis comments.”
Investec said the Black Friday sales could mean electrical sales were “volatile” over the period, while mobile sales are likely be more stable.
Any signs of store closures in the UK or the partnership with Sprint Corp in the US will also likely catch the eye.
Significant announcements expected
Monday
Interim: Premaitha Health (LON:NIPT)
Economic: Eurozone – Industrial production
Tuesday
Interim: Imagination Technologies (LON:IMG)
Trading statement: Petrofac (LON:PFC)
Economic: UK – Consumer price index, retail price index, producer price index; Eurozone – ZEW survey; US Consumer price index;
Wednesday
Interim: Dixons Carphone (LON:DC.)
Economic: UK – Unemployment rate; Eurozone – Consumer price index, balance of trade, US – FOMC interest rate decision, industrial production, crude oil inventories
Thursday
Interim: Miton Group (LON:MINI)
Trading statement: Premier Farnell (LON:PFL)
Companies trading ex-dividend: Zoopla (LON:ZPLA), Berkeley Group (LON:BKG), Betfair (LON:BET), Halfords (LON:HFD), Greene King (LON:GNK)
Economic: UK – Retail sales, CBI industrial trends surveys; US – Philadelphia fed index, jobless claims, current account, leading indicators
Friday
Economic: Eurozone – Balance of payments, current account