Talk this week has been about the possibility of the ECB’s first rate hike in 11 years, especially with eurozone inflation hitting a record 8.1% last month.
This leads to the next big question of 'by how much?', with governing council members including Austria’s central bank chief Robert Holzmann among those pushing for a 50 basis-point rise, but others such as Italy's calling for more gradual increases.
Some more UK housing data will be provided by RICS, with the first signs appearing in the past week of a long-awaited cooling in the residential market, after an extraordinary run during the pandemic.
Deutsche Bank economists pointed out that with April mortgage approvals dropping below expectations, data from Zoopla showing 5% of properties saw an average price cut of 9% in May, they expect a five percentage point drop in the RICS house price balance from 80% to 75%.
Among company news, British American Tobacco's (British American Tobacco PLC (LSE:BATS)) first-quarter numbers are likely again to be a question of managing decline.
Guidance for the year from the Kent, Dunhill, Pall Mall and Lucky Strike owner is for sales to grow between 2-4% though Russia is a wrinkle for the group, with 3% of sales coming from there and Ukraine.
Next-generation products, vaping and heat-not-burn products such as Vuse and Glo, might provide some excitement if recent strong growth continues – some 4.8mln new users were added last year and reports this week were that BATS is preparing to push up prices.
Updates from CMC Markets PLC (LSE:CMCX) (CMC Markets PLC (LSE:CMCX)) and newly floated stockbroker Peel Hunt should provide an interesting window into how recent market volatility is affecting different parts of the Square Mile.