In local economic news on Friday, UK retail sales rose on a monthly basis in April, while the year-on-year decline eased, according to the Office for National Statistics. Meanwhile, the British chancellor reaffirmed his support for the Bank of England’s monetary policy.
In business, British Airways’ Heathrow flights were disrupted by a technical problem on Thursday, while AstraZeneca announced some positive results from clinical trials. IntegraFin reported weaker half-year results and a slowdown in net inflows at its Transact branch.
Shares in London are expected to start the last trading day of a difficult week with a small gain, although uncertainty over the US debt ceiling continues to dampen sentiment.
President Joe Biden declared on Thursday that the US would avoid a disastrous credit default, even as lawmakers paused for 10 days without an agreement on raising the nation’s borrowing limit to continue paying bills.
There are still seven days to go until June 1 – the earliest possible time when the government is estimated to run out of money to repay its debts – and failure to repay the loans would likely lead to a downturn, which would spook global markets.
