Barclays Plc (LON:BARC) is next up in the procession of UK banking updates, with its trading update due to guide the market on Thursday.
Retail banking rival Lloyds on Wednesday revealed a jump in third quarter profit, supported by the acquisition of credit card business MBNA and the absence of further provisions for its payment protection insurance mis-selling scandal.
But shares in Lloyds fell lower as it warned that risks remain with Brexit uncertainty, an increase in PPI claims and ongoing legacy issues.
Much like Lloyds, Barclays has had to set aside provisions for PPI claims.
Barclays swung to a first half loss after a £700mln provision for PPI and a loss on the sale of further stake in its Africa business as it focuses on its more profitable core businesses.
The group is also trying to resolve technical problems with its stockbroking arm that has prompted some of its clients to leave.
Many Barclays clients have complained about having login-in problems and long waits after the bank moved 200,000 customers from its Stockbroker service to its new Smart Investors offering in August.
Credit Suisse said overall levels of client activity in the third quarter have been low and the same period a year ago delivered a strong performance.
Investors will no doubt be eager to see what Barclays has to say come 7:00am on Thursday.
Friday, meanwhile, sees Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (LON:RBS) come into focus.
ECB also in focus on Thursday
Away from the corporate news, the big focus will be on the latest European Central Bank council meeting, with economists expecting Mario Draghi & Co to finally announce a retreat on quantitative easing on Thursday.
In a preview, economists at UBS said they expect the ECB to announce that it will cut its monthly asset purchases from €60bn to €30bn as of January, with a commitment for nine months, until end-September 2018.
They added: “We think the ECB will leave open whether it will extend QE after September and hint that this decision will be taken in a data- dependent fashion, closer to the time. We believe the ECB will maintain a QE easing bias, indicating that it will stand ready to scale up QE again in the event of negative shocks.”
The economists concluded: “We think the Bank will once again commit to maintaining a ‘very sUBStantial degree of monetary accommodation’ in order to bring inflation back to the target.
Thursday’s agenda
Trading update: Avocet Mining PLC (LON:AVM), KAZ Minerals PLC (LON:KAZ), National Express Group PLC (LON:NEX), RELX PLC (LON:REL)
Finals: Connect Group PLC (LON:CNCT), Redefine International PLC (LON:RDI)
Interims: C&C Group PLC (LON: CCR)
Ex-dividends: Barratt Developments PLC (LON:BDEV), Ferguson Plc, ITV plc, Rolls-Royce PLC
Economic data: GfK German consumer confidence; US weekly jobless claims; US balance of trade; US pending home sales