Tuesday preview: October public borrowing figures in focus

The economic agenda for Tuesday was exceedingly light although the corporate news-flow was set to pick-up noticeably.

Thus, the focus was expected to be on October´s official public finance figures from ONS, particularly as they would be the last set of data ahead of the Chancellor´s Autumn statement on the next day.

Economists at Barclays forecast the public sector´s net borrowing requirement (excluding bank interventions) would decline from £10.6bn in September to £6.7bn.

Nonetheless, Hammond´s room-to-manoeuvre on fiscal stimulus was expected to be rather limited given lower projections for economic growth going forward.

A reading on the state of manufacturing courtesy of the Confederation of British Industry´s Industrial Trends survey was also due to be published.

Acting as a backdrop, the House of Lords was set to debate on two reports from the European Union Select Committee, entitled 'The Invoking of Article 50' and 'Brexit: Parliamentary Scrutiny'.

Among the firms which were scheduled to update shareholders and the markets was DIY retailer Kingfisher.

Analaysts at Numis believed the market/weather backdrop in the UK had remained supportive in the third quarter, although recent figures from the French central bank had pointed to a "surprisingly tough month" in September.

Numis also pointed out how over the past twelve months the shares had outperformed the sector by 24%, especially since the Brexit vote, while consensus forecasts for profits before tax for the company in fiscal year 2018 had in fact reduced slightly since end-June.

That had pushed the stock´s 2017 price-to-earnings multiple to 15.4, for a 33% premium to its peer group.

INTERIMS
AO World, Assura , Big Yellow Group, CML Microsystems, De La Rue, Halma, Homeserve, Scapa Group, Solid State, Telecom Plus, ULS Technology , Victoria

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Intu Properties

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Consumer Confidence (EU) (15:00)
Existing Home Sales (US) (15:00)

Q3
Frutarom Industries Ltd GDR (Reg S)

FINALS
Cambria Automobiles, Compass Group, CYBG , Focusrite, Mitchells & Butlers, Renew Holdings

AGMS
Berkeley Energia Limited (DI), Dunelm Group

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Homeserve, Intertek Group, Kingfisher, Rotork, Spectris, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, SVG Capital

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Public Sector Net Borrowing (09:30)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Close Brothers Group