Friday preview: US consumer confidence, Easyjet in focus

(Sharecast News) - The spotlight at the end of the week, barring surprises on the international trade or Brexit fronts, will be on US consumer confidence data for May.At 1500 BST, the University of Michigan will release a preliminary reading on consumer sentiment for May, followed by speeches from three top US central bank officials.Further afield, an index of services sector activity in Japan for the month of March and Russian first quarter GDP figures are due out. Among the corporates due to update markets is Easyjet, with the focus most likely to be on the airline's current trading and outlook, said Numis's Kathryn Leonard.In part, that is because on 1 April the company already guided towards six-month sales of roughly £2.34bn and an approximately 18.8% rise in operating costs, although it did not issue guidance for profits before tax.Leonard is anticipating a 0.7% year-on-year drop in the company's third quarter yields, with a rise of 1.5% foreseen for the last three months of the financial year thanks in part on the assumption of a "more certain Brexit".But the most recent online traffic data and figures from Barclaycard pointed to a fall in consumer spend on airline tickets, she said.A one percentage point drop (or increase) in yields - revenue per seat at constant exchange rates - over the backhalf of 2019 would lower the company's profits before tax by about 9%, the analyst explained.But on 11.2 times' her estimates for Easyjet's profits in the 2020 financial year, the shares appeared to already be anticipating that weakness in demand.FRIDAY MAY 17INTERIMSeasyJet, Future, Ossiam Lux Ossiam World Min Var Nr Etf USD, Sage GroupINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAB Dynamics, Kier GroupQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEBlackRock Latin American Inv Trust, Tufton Oceanic Assets Limited NPVINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Price Index (EU) (10:00)U. of Michigan Confidence (Prelim) (US) (15:00)Wholesale Price Index (GER) (07:00)FINALSRoyal MailIMSSJersey Electricity 'A' SharesSPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEJohn Laing GroupEGMSMortice Ltd. (DI)AGMSBaillie Gifford Shin Nippon, Bango, Bank of Georgia Group, Braime (T.F.& J.H.) Holdings, Cairn Energy, Centaur Media, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Hunters Property , Irish Continental Group Units, Menzies(John), Ossiam Lux Ossiam Stoxx Europe 600 Ew Nr Etf, Ossiam Risk Wght Commo Exg ETF-USD (GBP), Real Estate Investors, Restaurant Group, Robert WaltersTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSHikma PharmaceuticalsFINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEArbuthnot Banking Group, Costain Group, FBD Holdings, Fidelity European Values, Hansteen Holdings, IMI, John Laing Group , Kaz Minerals , Man Group, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, Mobeus Income & Growth Vct, Prudential, RPS Group, RSA Insurance Group, Sagicor Financial Corporation Limited (DI), Science Group , Taylor Wimpey, Travis Perkins, TT Electronics, Unite GroupQ1Afarak Group (DI)