Wednesday preview: Fedspeak, Tesco in focus

Barring surprises, the focus on Wednesday will shift back towards the flow of economic data out of the US.

At 1315 BST, consultancy ADP is to provide its regular foretaste of the official monthly non-farm payrolls figures which are due out on Friday, followed by the ISM Institute's services sector Purchasing Managers' Index for September.

The former has been known to sometimes set-off significant intraday volatility in financial markets, although historically it has proved to be a less-than-reliable predictor of the US jobs data.

Investors will also be keeping close tabs on a raft of Fed speakers who are scheduled to take to the podium throughout the afternoon.

They include Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin at 1505 BST, the Clevelan Fed's Loretta Mester at 1705 BST, Fed Governor Lael Brainard at 1900 BST and chairman Jerome Powell at 2100 BST.

Earlier, at 0900 BST, IHS Markit is set to release a final reading for its services sector PMI for the Eurozone, followed by another survey covering the UK at 09:30 BST.

Tesco is likely to hog the headlines on the corporate front, with ShoreCap analysts Clive Black and Darren Shirley forecasting a rise in the group's half-year like-for-like sales of between 2.0% and 2.5%, "good progress" in Ireland and an "improving trend" in Thailand.

Pre-tax profits meanwhile were pegged at £868.0m (consensus: £811.0m) for earnings per share of 6.8p and up by 35% versus the previous year.

The latter, Black and Shirley said, implied upward pressure on the expectations for the full-year tally. Indeed, the two analysts saw scope for special returns over th medium-term.

Significantly, core margins were expected to improve by between 55 to 60 basis points to 2.6% and th dividend cover to fall from four to three times' earnings per share.

Wednesday October 03

INTERIMS

Tesco

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Croda International, Globaldata, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, Kaz Minerals , Property Franchise Group, Savills

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

ISM Non-Manufacturing (US) (15:00)

MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)

PMI Composite (EU) (09:00)

PMI Composite (GER) (08:55)

PMI Composite (US) (14:45)

PMI Services (EU) (09:00)

PMI Services (GER) (08:55)

PMI Services (US) (14:45)

Retail Sales (EU) (10:00)

GMS

Elementis, esure Group

FINALS

Avingtrans

AGMS

Goodwin Plc

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Gooch & Housego, Topps Tiles

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

BRC Shop Price Index (00:01)

Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)

PMI Services (09:30)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Dunedin Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Stagecoach Group, WYG