Tuesday preview: US Federal Reserve, DS Smith in focus

All eyes on Tuesday will be on Federal Reserve chief, Jerome Powell, as he testifies before the US House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on Coronavirus Crisis, at 1900 BST.

Markets' focus across the Channel will also be on central banks, the European Central Bank in this case.

ECB chief economist Philip Lane will speak at 1500 BST at the Athens University of Economics and Business.

He will be followed by ECB Governing Council member, Isabel Schnabel, who will participate at an event hosted by Rotary Club Bonn-Museumseile, at 1830 BST.

On home shores, at 0700 BST the Office for National Statistics is expected to report that the UK's public sector net borrowing requirements decreased from £31.0bn for April to £25.8bn in May.

The Confederation of British Industry meanwhile is due to release its Industrial Trends total orders index for June, at 110 BST.

On the corporate side of things, packaging specialist DS Smith is due to release its latest full-year numbers.

In March, the company - whose clients include Amazon, Nestle and Unilever - offered an upbeat outlook for the second half of its financial year.

A pledge to resume dividend payments was also made, Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK pointed out.

That outlook was confirmed in April, with the company citing a better than expected performance at its US arm.

Hewson also noted speculation around a possible £5bn bid from rival Mondi in February, which had served to push the shares higher, although news on that front had since gone cold.

Tuesday 22 June

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Existing Home Sales (US) (15:00)

FINALS

Gear4music (Holdings), Novacyt S.A. (CDI), Smith (DS), Staffline Group, Trackwise Designs , Trifast

AGMS

Bisichi , Caerus Mineral Resources , CEPS, Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI), Cora Gold Limited (DI), EPE Special Opportunities Limited (DI), Frenkel Topping Group, Huatai Securities Co., Ltd GDR (Each Repr 10 A Shs RMB1) (Reg S) , Intelligent Ultrasound Group , Invesco Bond Income Plus Limited NPV, Morses Club , RTW Venture Fund Limited NPV, Surgical Innovations Group

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Public Sector Net Borrowing (07:00)