Wednesday preview: US and China CPI, Legal and General in focus

Against a backdrop of rising government bond yields, markets' focus in the middle of the week will shift towards the inflation, with readings on consumer prices due out in the US and China.

Stateside, the consensus is for headline CPI to have accelerated to a year-on-year rate of 1.7% for February, up from 1.4% in January.

Core CPI was seen printing at 1.4%, unchanged from a month before.

Critically, analysts at Barclays Research cautioned that while so-called 'base effects' might push core CPI up to 2.2% by May, underlying prices were in reality running colder.

Hence, inflation was expected to slip back to 1.6% in the backhalf of this same year.

To take note of, the results of auctions of longer-term US Treasuries scheduled for the afternoon may well impact trading in the stockmarket.

In the People's Republic of China, CPI data released overnight are expected to show inflation at -0.3% year-on-year, steady versus the previous month.

The rate of increase in factory gate prices on the other hand is expected to have picked up from 0.3% to 1.4%.

No major economic reports are scheduled for release in the UK.

Only a spate of second-tier data is due out across the Channel, including a reading on French industrial production and readings for consumer prices in Greece and Portugal.

For Legal&General's second half results, UBS's Colm Kelly says investors will be focused on how well operating profit, cash and solvency held up in the "testing" operating environment that was 2020.

The analyst has penciled-in an operating before tax profit of £1,013m (consensus: £,1254m), which would mark a 25% drop year-on-year, driven mainly by lower annuities sales.

His estimate was also well below the company's own guidance for a flat year, meaning that some non-operating items or variances might help it come in ahead of his estimates, Kelly said.

Wednesday 10 March

INTERIMS

Kin and Carta

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION COM STK USD0.20 (CDI)

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Consumer Price Index (US) (12:30)

Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)

MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)

GMS

Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust

FINALS

Aptitude Software Group , Balfour Beatty, Breedon Group , CLS Holdings, FDM Group (Holdings), Foxtons Group , Hill & Smith Holdings, Ibstock , IP Group, Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI), Legal & General Group, Quilter, Tritax Big Box Reit , TT Electronics

EGMS

SDIC Power Holdings Co.,Ltd GDR (Reg S)

AGMS

Blackrock Income And Growth Investment Trust, Inspirit Energy Holdings, Northamber, Northamber, Titon Holdings

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Tharisa (DI)