Thursday preview: Fed's Waller, Barclays in focus

Investors´ attention on Thursday will be on possible policy-relevant remarks from US Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller.

Two days before, Waller had said at a conference hosted by Stanford University that the timing of interest rate increases might need to be brought forward.

"If inflation were to continue at 5% into 2022, you’ll start seeing everybody potentially; well, I can't speak for anybody else, just myself, but you would see people pulling their ‘dots’ forward and having potentially more than one hike in 2022."

Also due out in the States, both at 1330 BST, are the results of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's regional manufacturing sector survey for October and the latest weekly unemployment claims figures.

On home shores, at 0700 BST the Office for National Statistics will publish public sector net borrowing data for September.

They will be followed four hours later by the Confederation of British Industry´s Industrial Trends survey for October.

Across the Channel, the market spotlight will be on a raft of consumer confidence surveys due out in Belgium, France, Sweden and for the euro area as a whole.

Further afield, investors will be waiting on the latest export figures out of South Korea covering the month of September.

For Barclays's third quarter results, UBS analyst Jason Napier expects markets' focus to be on the lender's net interest income, including on falling mortgage spreads "still-depressed" interest-earning card balances and the steepening yield curve.

"We remain constructive on Barclays' capacity to grow revenues in the coming years including an expected hand-off beteen markets and vanilla-banking income (though Markets income has continued to surprise positively)," Napier wrote in a research report sent to clients.

"We retain our constructive stance and Buy rating into results."

Napier also highlighted what he said were the multiple attractions of the shares, including the potential for excess capital payouts, surplus credit reserve losses, rising interest rates, among others.

He also argued that on his estimates, Barclays's shares were changing hands on an estimated 2021 price-to-earnings multiple of 7.1, for a 25% discount versus the European bank average.

Thursday 12 August

INTERIMS

Arix Bioscience , Arrow Global Group, Aviva, Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI), Empiric Student Property , Empresaria Group, Entain, Glanbia (CDI), Mears Group, Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ltd., Silence Therapeutics, Tribal Group, Vitec Group

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Treatt, Unicorn AIM VCT

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Aferian, Barclays, Baronsmead Second Venture Trust, Baronsmead Venture Trust, Direct Line Insurance Group, Domino's Pizza Group, Ferrexpo, Fresnillo, Hiscox Limited (DI), Ibstock , IMI, IP Group, Jupiter Fund Management , Legal & General Group, LMS Capital, LSL Property Services, Maven Income & Growth 3 VCT, Maven Income and Growth VCT 5, NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P, Pearson, Quartix Technologies, Reach, Rio Tinto, SEGRO, Spirent Communications, Standard Chartered, Vivo Energy

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE

BP, Honeywell International Inc., ICG Enterprise Trust, JPMorgan Claverhouse Inv Trust, Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust , Royal Dutch Shell 'A', Royal Dutch Shell 'B', The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)

Industrial Production (EU) (10:00)

Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)

Producer Price Index (US) (12:30)

Producer Price Index (US) (13:30)

Q2

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.NPV (CDI)

SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Lindsell Train Inv Trust, Next, Northern 3 VCT, Rio Tinto

AGMS

BMO Global Smaller Companies, Montanaro UK Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Napster Group, Victoria Oil & Gas, W H Ireland Group

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Balance of Trade (07:00)

GDP (Preliminary) (07:00)

Gross Domestic Product (07:00)

Index of Services (07:00)

Industrial Production (07:00)

Manufacturing Production (07:00)

RICS Housing Market Survey (00:01)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Halma, Ninety One

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Argentex Group , D4T4 Solutions, Halfords Group, Iomart Group, Lindsell Train Inv Trust, Montanaro European Smaller Companies Trust, Northern 3 VCT, Severfield, Speedy Hire