Wednesday preview: JOLTS data and FOMC minutes to steal focus

With corporate results and updates once again thin on the ground, the focus of Wednesday's trading will be firmly fixed on economic data from the US, amid ongoing speculation regarding the outlook for interest rates.

With the Federal Reserve resolute in their commitment to watch incoming economic indicators before making any signal about future monetary policy, Wednesday's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (or JOLTS report) will be closely watched. it is expected to show job openings rising to 8.850m in November from 8.733m in October.

The data comes before Thursday's ADP Employment Report and the all-important non-farm payrolls figure for December on Friday.

Also on tap will be the ISM manufacturing report, which is expected to show that the purchasing managers' index for December rose to 47.1 from 46.7 in November.

Minutes of the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting will also be in focus, but won't be released until after the close in London.

"While [Fed chair Jerome] Powell clearly alluded to the possibility of easing, Fed officials since the Dec FOMC meeting have pushed back on the idea of that happening imminently. In that vein, we expect this week's minutes to show that the FOMC is not entertaining the case for rate cuts just yet," said analysts at TD Securities.

In other US economic news, MBA mortgage applications for the week to 29 December and vehicle sales for December from Autodata Corp will also be published.

Wednesday January 03

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Bunzl, FirstGroup, Next

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE

QinetiQ Group

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)

ISM Manufacturing (US) (15:00)

ISM Prices Paid (US) (15:00)

MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)

Unemployment Rate (GER) (08:55)

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Merchants Trust 3.65% Cumulative Preference 1