Friday preview: China activity indicators, InterContinental Hotels Group

The market spotlight at the end of the week will shift back towards China, where a barrage of economic activity indicators for the month of September are scheduled for release.

They include readings on industrial production, fixed asset investment and retail sales during the month of September.

Further afield, overnight core consumer price data for that same month are due out in Japan.

Against that background, and ahead of Saturday's parliamentary session, investors will be looking to confirm that European Union leaders have had time to analyse and approve the full legal text for the Brexit deal agreed between Brussels and Westminster.

Later in the session, a flurry of Fed speakers will take to the podium, including Dallas Fed chief, Robert Kaplan, at 1400 BST, followed by Esther George of the Kansas Fed at 1505 BST and Fed vice chairman, Richard Clarida, at 1630 BST.

No major economic releases are scheduled in the UK, euro area or in the States.

In corporate news, InterContinental Hotels Group third quarter trading statement may make for an especially interesting read this time around, due to the recent protests in Hong Kong.

Morgan Stanley's Jamie Rollo forecast was for company's revenues per available room to dip by 0.1%, on the back of a 2.2% drop in Greater China after a dip of 0.3% in the first half, partly due to the slowdown in HK which accounts for 15% of the firm's rooms in the region.

For 2019, Rollo is anticipating RevPAR growth of 0.4% for the group, with total sales up by 10.0% to $2.12bn, earnings before interest and taxes higher by 2.0% at $850.0m and earnings per share off by 1.0% to $2.95.

Full-year net system growth was pegged at up by 5,7% after 4.8% during the previous year.

Friday October 18

TRADING STATEMENTS

InterContinental Hotels Group, London Stock Exchange Group

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

888 Holdings, Applegreen, Braime Group, Braime Group 'A'NON.V , Cairn Homes , Costain Group, Derwent London, Epwin Group, Gore Street Energy Storage Fund , Harworth Group, Henry Boot, Hunters Property , Nucleus Financial Group , Octagonal, Petrofac Ltd., Robert Walters, Sanne Group, Urban Exposure, Vitec Group

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

Duke Royalty Limited

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Current Account (EU) (09:00)

Wholesale Price Index (GER) (07:00)

SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Hargreaves Lansdown

AGMS

Ashmore Group, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, K3 Capital Group , Octagonal

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Avation, Hargreaves Lansdown, HML Holdings, Jupiter Green Inv Trust, Norish Units, Oxford Instruments, Tricorn Group