Friday preview: All eyes on EU Summit

Friday will see the end of what many see as a make-or-break summit for the euro. The world is hoping that the meeting of EU leaders, which starts tonight in Brussels, will prompt swift action to tackle the Eurozone's sovereign debt crisis.

Jos Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, labelled the two-day meeting as "crucial" when speaking on Thursday. "All the world is watching us...What the world wants from us is not more national problems but European solutions," he said.

On Monday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met to discuss their proposals for the summit. Among the things that 'Merkozy' proposed are automatic sanctions for nations whose deficits go beyond 3% of gross domestic product and the rejection of eurobond issuance.

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Market analyst Colin Cieszynski from CMC Markets said today: "Speculation about what may come out of the summit is likely to remain the main market driver through the rest of this week and the fallout could drive trading into next year. It appears that closer fiscal ties may be on the way but in politics anything can happen."

"More warnings about EU downgrades from Standard and Poors have kept the pressure on to reach a deal, confirming that the stakes are high," he said.

According to a Reuters poll of economists, only 33 out of the 57 questioned thought that the Eurozone could "survive in its current form", while 38 expect the summit not to provide a "decisive solution" to the crisis.

We shall have to wait and see, with a press conference following the meeting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

Company news may be thin on the ground tomorrow, with small cap entertainments product distributor MBL Group among the few companies reporting. Yet, with all eyes focused on tomorrow's 'crucial' summit (to quote Barroso), the markets' direction will surely be dominated by any developments in Brussels.

INTERIMS

MBL Group

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Balfour Beatty, Invensys, Maven Income & Growth VCT, NB Global Floating Rate Income Fund Ltd GBP, NB Global Floating Rate Income Fund Ltd USD, Pace, Printing.com, SABMiller, Stobart Group Ltd., Walker Crips Group

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

Barclays, Lilly (Eli) & Co

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Balance of Trade (GER) (07:00)

Balance of Trade (US) (13:30)

Consumer Price Index (GER) (07:00)

Current Account (GER) (07:00)

Retail Price Index (GER) (07:00)

ANNUAL REPORT

Carr's Milling Industries

SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Microgen, Narborough Plantations

EGMS

OJSC Polyus Gold ADR

AGMS

Air Partner, Artilium, Associated British Foods, cScape Group , Norseman Gold, Pantheon Resources, Tembusu Investments Ltd. (DI), Waterman Group, West Pioneer Properties Ltd. (DI)

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Balance of Trade (09:30)

Producer Price Index (09:30)

UK Trade (09:30)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Avingtrans, British Sky Broadcasting Group, Centaur Media, Craneware, Edinburgh Dragon Trust, JPMorgan Global Markets Emerging Income Trust, JPMorgan Smaller Companies Inv Trust