Tuesday preview: UK employment, Distributive Trades Index in focus

Financial markets' focus on Tuesday will be on the latest UK employment.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics due out at 0700 GMT are expected to reveal only a small uptick in the rate of unemployment for the three months to November, of two tenths of a percentage point to reach 5.1%.

Average weekly earnings meanwhile however were expected to pick up alongside and were seen rising at a 2.9% year-on-year clip, up from 2.7% in October.

Also scheduled to be published was the Confederation of British Industry's Distributive Trades survey for January.

Stateside meanwhile, the spotlight was set to be on the consumer and the country's housing market, with the results of various surveys due out.

No major economic releases were scheduled to be published in the euro area.

Tuesday January 26

INTERIMS

PZ Cussons, Quiz

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Puma VCT 12

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

House Price Index (US) (14:00)

ANNUAL REPORT

Watkin Jones

EGMS

Greencore Group, UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company

AGMS

Greencore Group, Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust, UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Barr (A.G.), DP Eurasia N.V. (DI) , Petropavlovsk, Saga

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Claimant Count Rate (07:00)

Unemployment Rate (07:00)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust, Majedie Investments