Wednesday preview: Fed Beige Book, Dunelm in the spotlight

Barring surprises on the global trade front or Brexit, the spotlight on Wednesday is likely to be on the release of the US central bank's so-called 'Beige Book', late in the US session and after the close of markets in London.

The Beige Book is akin to Bank's Agents' Summary of Business Conditions.

Released roughly a fortnight before each one of the Federal Reserve's policy meetings, it is a compendium of anecdotal evidence on activity and prices across the nation compiled by the monetary authority's 12 regional reserve banks.

To take note of, it comes as the market-implied odds of a further two interest rate hikes by the Fed in 2018 have been rising, with fed funds futures at the time of writing pointing to a 100% chance of a 25 basis point hike in rates at the 20-21 September meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee and 79.1% odds of a further hike at the 19 December FOMC.

No major economic releases are scheduled in the UK.

Across the Channel, final readings are due for consumer prices on the Iberian peninsula referencing the month of August, alongside a report on euro area industrial production, courtesy of Eurostat.

Among the companies set to update markets on Wednesday is Dunelm Group.

Analysts at UBS expect the furniture retailer to report on a "tough" year that has seen them progressively lower their estimates for the firm's full-year profits before tax by 20% versus where they stood roughly one year ago.

To take note of, over that same time frame their sales estimates have only come down by 1.0%, with the difference being ascribable to variations in the outlook for margins and operating expenditures, in part due to the tougher-than-expected operating environment.

Nevertheless, there were likely to be positives with the Swiss broker pointing out the sizeable contribution made to Dunelm's now stronger online offering by Worldstores.

Hence, the Swiss broker said: "[Dunelm] is thus much better positioned for the next five years, although it remains difficult to gauge the point at which channel shift costs will be outweighed by stronger sales."

As of 7 September, analyst Andrew Hughes had a 'buy' recommendation and 640.0p target price on the shares.

Wednesday, September 12

INTERIMS

Advanced Medical Solutions Group, Anexo Group , Charles Taylor, Concurrent Technologies, Diversified Gas & Oil, Epwin Group, Forbidden Technologies, Futura Medical, Goals Soccer Centres, IGas Energy, Medica Group , Property Franchise Group, Ten Entertainment Group

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Lancashire Holdings Limited, Rentokil Initial

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)

Industrial Production (EU) (10:00)

MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)

Producer Price Index (US) (13:30)

FINALS

1pm, Dunelm Group, Galliford Try

AGMS

Aew UK Reit, Cathay International Holdings Ltd., Hardy Oil & Gas, Miton UK Microcap Trust, Mobeus Income & Growth 2 Vct, Orient Telecoms , ReNeuron Group, Sports Direct International, Stenprop Limited, Trakm8 Holdings, Tricorn Group

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Safestore Holdings

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Alpha Financial Markets Consulting