LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - The market spotlight at the end of the week will be on UK retail sales data for May.
Consensus is for a slowdown, of sorts, in the month-on-month rate of growth from 9.2% in the month before to 1.6%.

According to Barclays Research, their proprietary data points to a levelling off in credit card spending despite the further reopening of the economy.

A shift in consumer spend towards hospitality and entertainment as the recovery matured was also expected to weigh on retail sales.

No major economic releases are scheduled in the States.

Across the Channel meanwhile, the only economic reports due out are German producer prices for May, at 0700 BST, followed by euro area current account figures for April at 0900 BST.

Overseas, rate-setters at the Bank of Japan will make their policy announcement overnight.

On the corporate front, all eyes will be on Tesco as it updates on trading in the first quarter of fiscal 2022.

When it updated on its full-year numbers in April, the grocery giant said it expected sales volumes to decline when restrictions eased.

Nevertheless, it also expected its costs to fall alongside.

"We'll see later this week whether that has translated into better margins, as well as an increase in profits, which should head back to the levels seen last year," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

Friday 18 June

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