As the US earnings season winds down, the US employment figures on Friday will be the indicator the markets are waiting for this week.
A positive figure is sought by analysts as evidence that Federal Reserve chairman Mr Alan Greenspan got it right when he said the US economy was in good shape and that interest rates would continue to rise gradually.
The jobs figures will follow euro-zone and US manufacturing and service sector surveys during the week, as well as central bank meetings expected to keep euro-zone rates on hold and raise British borrowing costs by a quarter-point.
On the domestic corporate scene, the main news will come from Ryanair, which reports first-quarter figures tomorrow. Despite increased pressure on costs, the airline is expected to produce solid figures but keep in place its cautious outlook.
Monday: Results: ABN-Amro (Q2), BNP Paribas (H1), British Airports Authority (Q1), Continental (Q2), Filtronic, Getronics (H1), HSBC (H1), Inchcape (H1), Procter & Gamble (Q4), RJ Reynolds (Q2), Statoil (Q2), Statpro (H1), Tele2 (Q2), Ultra Electronics Holdings (H1).
A.G.M.: Greene King (e.g.m.).
Indicators: Euro-zone purchasing managers' index (PMI) manufacturing (Jul); Irish NCB PMI manufacturing (Jul); US Institute of Supply Management manufacturing index (Jun) and construction spending (Jun); British PMI manufacturing (Jul) and M0 data (Jul); German PMI manufacturing (Jul); French PMI manufacturing (Jul); Italian PMI manufacturing (Jul).
Others: Bank holiday in Ireland.
Tuesday: Results: Altana (Q2), Audi (Q2), Boc (Q3), Depfa Bank (Q2), Dairy Farm (H1), Datacash (H1), Enodis (Q3), Epcos (Q3), International Power (H1), Laird (H1), Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (Q2), Perot Systems (Q2), Quantica (H1), Qwest Communications (Q2), Revlon (Q2), Ricoh (Q2), Royal Bank of Scotland (H1), Ryanair (Q1), Scottish & Newcastle (H1), Taylor Woodrow (H1), Toyota Motor (Q1), Tyco International (Q3), XP Power (H1).
A.G.M.: Monks, Northumbrian Water.
Indicators: Euro-zone producer prices (Jun); US personal income/spending Jun and vehicle sales (Jul); British CBI distributive trades survey (Jul); Swiss consumer prices (Jul).
Wednesday: Results: Adidas-Salomon (Q2), Aviva (H1), BASF (Q2), BMW (Q2), Brinks (Q2), BSkyB, Credit Suisse (Q2), Fresenius (Q2), Morgan Crucible (H1), Randstad (Q2), Standard Chartered (H1), Surface Transforms (H1), Versatel (Q2), Western Wireless (Q2).
A.G.M.: Eurocopy (e.g.m), Halma.
Meetings: Bank of England monetary policy committee meets (to Thurs).
Indicators: Euro-zone purchasing managers' index (PMI) services (Jun) and retail sales (Jun); Irish NCB PMI services (Jun); US Institute of Supply Management services index (Jun), factory orders (Jun) and durable goods (Jun); British PMI services (Jun) and official reserves (Jul); German PMI services (Jun) and unemployment (Jul); French PMI services (Jun); Italian PMI services (Jun).
Others: British Airways traffic figures.
Thursday: Results: Anglo American (H1), Austrian Airlines (H1), Barclays (H1), Barr Pharmaceuticals (Q4), Bearing Point (Q2), Chiquita Brands (Q2), Clariant (Q2), Delhaize (Q2), Fayrewood (H1), Friends Provident (H1), GKN (H1), Goodyear Tire & Rubber (Q2), HVB (H1), ING (H1), Ispat International (Q2), Lastminute.com (Q3), Millennium & Copthorne (H1), Mitsubishi (Q1), Old Mutual (H1), Outokumpu (Q2), Pixar Animation (Q2), Randgold Resources (Q2), Reed Elsevier (H1), Rotork (H1), Sandvik (Q2), Senior (H1), Smith & Nephew (H1), Spirent (H1), Total (H1).
A.G.M.: Ashtenne Group, Bizspace (e.g.m.), Dart, Domestic & General, Finsbury Worldwide, Imagination Technologies, Terrace Hill (e.g.m.).
Meetings: European Central Bank governing council meets.
Indicators: Irish non-EU trade (Jun); British industrial production (Jun) and manufacturing production (Jun); German industrial orders (Jun).
Others: OECD publishes economic survey of Germany; Bank of England monetary policy committee announces decision on interest rates..
Friday: Results: Axa (H1), Bradford & Bingley (H1), Dignity (H1), Greggs (H1), Sea Containers (Q2).
A.G.M.: Ashtenne Holdings (e.g.m.), Tanfield (e.g.m.).
Indicators: US unemployment (Jul), average earnings (Jul), average working week (Jul), consumer credit (Jun) and transport services (May); British insolvencies data (Q2); German industrial production (Jun); French budget (Jun).
Others: Traffic figures from EasyJet and SAS.
