Thursday preview: Johnson Matthey, Mothercare to publish interims

Thursday was scheduled to be another light day when it came to fresh economic data, although a barrage of second-tier reports Stateside might still liven things up in the afternoon.

That was particularly true of the latest weekly unemployment statistics and Philly Fed manufacturing survey. Although one must not exaggerate, in the run-up to the 15-16 December meeting of the US Federal Reserve new data points might hold somewhat greater weight than usual with the markets.

The impact of the Rugby World Cup at the start of October might show through in the latest data on retail sales, which was scheduled for release at 09:30.

Certainly, that was what Barclays was betting on. The broker had forecast a rise of 0.2% month-on-month, far above the consensus forecast for a drop of 0.5%.

In parallel, Thursday would be the European Central Bank's turn to release the minutes of its last policy meeting in an otherwise sparse day for economic data.

On the corporate front, speciality chemicals maker Johnson Matthey was scheduled to publish interims.

Investors will be keen to know just how much of a hit the company took in the second quarter as a result of the downtrend in precious metals prices.

The other matter on investors' minds is how much money the firm might hand back to them, with Numis analyst Charles Pick having penciled in about £250m.

Stiff currency winds might also have rocked Mothercare's finances in its own second quarter it was thought.

Thursday 19 November

INTERIMS

Dart Group, Investec, Johnson Matthey, Mothercare, Poundland Group , QinetiQ Group, Royal Mail

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Dillistone Group, Saga

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Braemar Shipping Services, Bunzl, DCC, Downing Three VCT F Shs, Downing Three VCT H Shs, Downing Two VCT F Shs , Downing Two VCT G Shs, E2V Technologies, Edge Performance VCT 'F' Shares, First Derivatives, Grafenia , Great Portland Estates, Hill & Smith Holdings, IFG Group, Liontrust Asset Management, Martin Currie Asia Unconstrained Trust , Prime People, Ranger Direct Lending Fund, Sainsbury (J), Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust, Sophos Group , Spire Healthcare Group, TalkTalk Telecom Group , Tate & Lyle, Vodafone Group, Whitbread

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Blackrock North American Income Trust , Canaccord Genuity Group Inc., Carnival, M Winkworth, MedicX Fund Ltd., Utilico Investments Ltd (DI)

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Balance of Payments (EU) (09:00)
Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)
Current Account (EU) (09:00)
Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)
Leading Indicators (US) (15:00)
Philadelphia Fed Index (US) (15:00)

Q3
Frutarom Industries Ltd GDR (Reg S), MHP SA GDR (Reg S), New World Resources A Shares

GMS
TechFinancials (DI)

FINALS
Euromoney Institutional Investor, Grainger

IMSS
Catlin Group Ltd., Centrica, CRH, Plaza Centers NV, Ted Baker

SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Calculus VCT, Manchester & London Investment Trust, Prime People

EGMS
El Oro Ltd, Great Eastern Energy Corp Ltd. GDR

AGMS
Close Brothers Group, Genus, Imperial Innovations Group, JPMorgan Global Markets Emerging Income Trust, Ludgate Environmental Fund Ltd., Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares, SQN Asset Finance Income Fund Limited

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
CBI Industrial Trends Surveys (11:00)
Internet Retail Sales (09:30)
Retail Sales (09:30)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Hansard Global, Penna Consulting, Thorpe (F.W.)

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE
AB Dynamics, Craneware, Digital Globe Services Ltd (DI), Edinburgh Dragon Trust, Fidelity Special Values, Genus, GETECH Group, Lok'n Store Group, London Finance & Investment Group, Manchester & London Investment Trust, MJ Gleeson , Sanditon Investment Trust, Tristel, World Careers Network