Telecoms groups BT and Cable and Wireless are among the stocks issuing trading updates next week.

Analysts will want assurances on the outlook for oil, pricing, cost reductions and passenger traffic when examining the British Airways results on Monday, which are expected to show a rise in pre-tax profits to £275m in the six months to September 30, from £60m a year ago.

Passengers have been asked to pay a fuel surcharge to ease part of the burden of the rising cost of oil, but many observers feel BA's fuel bill will be above forecasts if crude futures stay high next year.

On Monday, Imperial Tobacco will announce that pre-tax profits for the 12 months to the end of September broke through the £1bn barrier, despite challenging conditions in a number of markets, particularly Germany.

Profits of about £1.02bn would be ahead of the £898m posted a year ago, with market share gains in European markets, such as France and Spain, complemented by good performances in Asia, Africa and Australasia.

Cigarette volumes fell 12 per cent in Germany during the year, mainly due to tax increases in March.

Few surprises are expected from Marks & Spencer when it announces half-year results on Tuesday. Profits in the £285m to £295m range are expected..

The run-up to the interim results announcement by telecoms group Cable and Wireless on Wednesday has been dominated by the sale of its Japanese assets and speculation of a shake-up of its UK management team.

According to Investec analyst Christian Maher, the UK business is likely to have performed poorly in the six months to September 30 and there are no imminent plans to sell the division, despite the rumoured interest of venture capital groups.

Pre-tax profits of £168m are expected for the six months to September 30, from £154m a year ago.

Strong broadband growth is again expected to counter the decline in the traditional fixed-line business of telecoms group BT, which is expected to announce half-year profits of £934m on Thursday - down from £1.03bn a year ago.

The period will show the first real impact of a reduction in termination rates - the price that mobile phone companies charge each other and landline operators for putting callers through to their customers.