Wednesday preview: Economic data floods market ahead of Christmas

The market is set to see a flood of economic data on Wednesday ahead of the Christmas holiday.

The UK sees the release of the final estimate of third quarter gross domestic product from the Office for National Statistics. GPD is expected to be confirmed at an annualised 2.3% increase and a quarter-on-quarter rise of 0.5%.

“Since the second release of Q3 GDP, there have been revisions to construction data back to Q1 2014 as a result of method updates,” according to HSBC.

“While this should have little impact on Q3 2015 growth, we expect it to lead to a 0.1pp upward revision to growth Q1 2015 and a 0.1pp downward change to Q2 2014. We also expect a sharp widening in the Q3 current account deficit to 4.7% of GDP (from 3.6% in Q2) as the unusually narrow Q2 trade deficit returns to more normal levels.”

In the US, a report on US durable goods orders is due with analysts expecting a 0.7% drop in November compared to a 1.3% increase in October.

US personal spending and income figures for November are projected to show a 0.3% gain and a 0.2% rise, respectively.

The University of Michigan reveals its final estimate for consumer confidence in December. Economists predict the sentiment index will be revised to 92 from an earlier estimate of 91.8.

Data on US new home sales is expected to reveal a 2% increase in November compared to October at 505,000 units.

Finally, US weekly mortgage applications figures from the Mortgage Bankers’ Association will be published.

Wednesday 23 December
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
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INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
15:00 - U. of Michigan Confidence (Final) (US) (15:00)
Building Permits (US) (13:30)
Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)
New Homes Sales (US) (15:00)
Personal Consumption Expenditures (US) (13:30)
Personal Income (US) (13:30)
Personal Spending (US) (13:30)

GMS
Eco City Vehicles

AGMS
Aurora Russia Ltd., Churchill Mining, Mosman Oil and Gas Limited (DI), Regency Mines, Tiso Blackstar Group SE (DI)

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Balance of Payments (09:30)
Current Account (09:30)
GDP (quarterly national accounts) (09:30)
Index of Services (09:30)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
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