Friday preview: U.S. non-farm payrolls, JD Wetherspoon in the spotlight

All eyes at the end of the week would be on the U.S. non-farm payrolls report for the month of September.

Consensus was for a modest further slowing in the pace of hiring from 187,000 in August to 168,000 in September.

However, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics believed that there was a real risk that state and local education could boost the headline jobs number to 250,000 with private payrolls at 175,000.

That, Shepherdson said, might bring Treasuries under renewed selling pressure.

Just as important as the non-farm payrolls numbers for the latest month would be the revisions to prior months' readings, as well as the figures for wage growth.

On the company side of things, JD Wetherspoon was scheduled to publish its full-year figures.

Analysts were expecting the pub owner to report revenues of £1.9bn and to have moved back into the black to the tune of £29m.

In a July trading update the company had also said that it would no longer need waivers on its banking covenants at the end of the current quarter.

Friday 06 October

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Admiral Group, Anglo-Eastern Plantations, Cairn Homes (CDI), Dalata Hotel Group (CDI), Drax Group, Elecosoft Public Limited Company, Eurocell , Glanbia (CDI), Globaldata, Greggs, H&T Group, Intertek Group, Irish Continental Group Units (Comp) (CDI), JPMorgan American Inv Trust, Lords Group Trading, Property Franchise Group, Quartix Technologies, Ramsdens Holdings , Serco Group, Sherborne Investors (Guernsey) C Limited NPV, Zotefoams

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

BlackRock World Mining Trust, Land Securities Group

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Consumer Credit (US) (20:00)

Factory Orders (GER) (07:00)

Non-Farm Payrolls (US) (13:30)

Unemployment Rate (US) (13:30)

GMS

Caracal Gold

FINALS

Wetherspoon (J.D.)

SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Admiral Group, Alfa Financial Software Holdings

SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Capricorn Energy

AGMS

Net Zero Infrastructure

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Halifax House Price Index (07:00)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Walker Crips Group