Wednesday preview: US FOMC, TUI in focus

With the general election looming large on the horizon, the spotlight during Wednesday's session is likely to be on the latest MRP poll from You.gov, although any market reaction may be muted as traders play it safe instead of trying to front-run the result.

Overseas on the other hand, the focus will be on the conclusion of the US Federal Open Market Committee's two-day policy meeting.

Rate-setters at the Fed are expected to keep the target range for the Fed funds rate unchanged at 1.5-1.75%, but investors are curious to see whether any references to the recent very strong US jobs data will find their way into their policy statement.

Nevertheless, given that the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the price deflator for core personal consumption expenditures, remained at 1.6% as recently as October, some market observers believed it likely that policymakers would prefer to keep all their options open.

No major economic releases were scheduled in the UK.

On the corporate side of things meanwhile, travel tour operator TUI is set to update shareholders.

Morgan Stanley's Jamie Rollo was cautious going into the full-year results, telling clients to expect guidance for the 2020 financial year to be in a wide range and below the analyst consensus.

Rollo expected consensus estimates for both the company's earnings per share and dividends in 2020 to decline.

For the company's 2019 results meanwhile, the analyst had penciled-in a 3.5% increase in sales to €19.1bn, but with earnings before interest and taxes down by 26.0% at constant exchange rates to reach €880.0m, resulting in a 23.0% cut to the firm's dividend pay-out to €0.53.

Wednesday December 11

INTERIMS

DWF Group , Kromek Group

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

DCC

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Consumer Price Index (US) (13:30)

Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)

MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)

FINALS

Autins Group, Stagecoach Group

SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Aberdeen Standard Asia Focus

AGMS

Aberdeen Latin American Income Fund Ltd , Amedeo Air Four Plus Limited, AXA Property Trust Limited NPV, BowLeven, Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings), Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd., Minds + Machines Group Limited (DI), Westmount Energy Ltd., YouGov

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ted Baker

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Aberdeen Standard Asia Focus , Fidelity Asian Values, Litigation Capital Management Limited (DI)