Thursday preview: BoE, Aviva in the spotlight

The focus on Thursday will be firmly on the Bank of England as it announces its latest monetary policy decision and releases its latest forecasts for the UK economy.

A unanimous vote by Monetary Policy Committee members for no changes to policy settings is expected, with rate-setters likely to keep all options open on the table "as interpretation of the data remains in flux", said economists at Barclays Research.

The US jobs market will be also be on investors' minds ahead of the Department of Labor's weekly jobless claims figures and the monthly employment report due out the next day.

Across the Channel meanwhile, Germany is scheduled to release factory orders data for June which are expected to reveal a continued rebound from the sharp declines witnessed in March and April.

Further afield, policymakers at the Reserve Bank of India are also due to announce their latest decisions on policy.

Insurer Aviva is among the multiple FTSE 350 names that are set to update financial markets on Thursday.

UBS's Colm Kelly thinks investors' focus will be on the new chief executive officer and any new information regarding Aviva's strategy and financials.

Confirmation of the dividend policy may also be forthcoming and is important so management would be well advised to provide clarity as soon as possible, the analyst said.

Kelly's forecasts called for an 18% year-on-year drop in operating profits at the half-year stage, with those from General Insurance seen falling 65% to £115m.

Hold-co cash meanwhile was pegged at £2.7bn, versus £2.5bn at the end of April.

The group's Solvency II ratio was seen at 187% on a shareholder basis, against 182% for the year earlier period.

Thursday 06 August

INTERIMS

Aggreko, Aviva, AIB Group, ConvaTec Group, Evraz, Genel, Glencore, Hammerson, Ibstock, Mondi, Phoenix Group Holdings , Savills, Serco Group, Spirent Communications, Tritax Big Box REIT, TT Electronics

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust, Aptitude Software Group , BAE Systems, FDM Group (Holdings), Fresnillo, IMI, Impax Environmental Markets, Jupiter Fund Management , Man Group, Moneysupermarket.com Group, Northern Venture Trust, Polar Capital Global Financials Trust, Rio Tinto, Sabre Insurance Group, St. Modwen Properties

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Brunner Inv Trust, Custodian Reit , Greencoat Renewables, HICL Infrastructure , JPMorgan Claverhouse Inv Trust, Picton Property Income Ltd, Tufton Oceanic Assets Limited NPV, Unilever

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)

Factory Orders (GER) (07:00)

Industrial Production (GER) (07:00)

Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)

PMI Construction (09:30)

Q2

Amryt Pharma

FINALS

Induction Healthcare Group

SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Andrews Sykes Group, Kainos Group , Sabre Insurance Group

AGMS

D4T4 Solutions, De La Rue, Dekel Agri-Vision (DI), Echo Energy , Investec, Minoan Group, Naked Wines

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

BoE Interest Rate Decision (07:00)

Halifax House Price Index (08:30)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Caledonia Investments

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Aberdeen New Dawn Investment Trust, CMC Markets, IMI, Latham (James), Panther Securities, ProVen Growth & Income VCT, ProVen VCT, Total Produce