Tuesday preview. UK employment, Goldman Sachs in the spotlight

Of particular interest will be the latest PAYE payrolls data and vacancy figures from the Office for National Statistics, which may reveal some weakness on account of Omicron, say economists at Barclays Research.

The ILO rate of unemployment is seen steady at 4.2% in November, with people coming off furlough heading to inactivity instead of the unemployment queue, Barclays adds.

Average weekly earnings including bonuses are seen up by 3.7% in annual and quarterly terms in November and by 4.2% if bonuses are included.

Stateside, the spotlight will be on the results of the first regional manufacturing survey results for the month of January, in this case that for the so-called 'Empire State' survey.

Across the Channel meanwhile, the prestigious ZEW institute will release its economic expectations index for Germany referencing the month of January.

Further afield, rate-setters at the Bank of Japan are due to meet to decide on policy.

On Wall Street, Goldman Sachs (consensus EPS: $11.76) and Bank of New York Mellon (consensus EPS: $1.01) are among the corporates that are set to update shareholders on the last quarter of 2021.

Commenting on the performance of the former's shares in the stock market over the preceding two quaters, Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK noted how they had struggled to make headway despite its bumper results year-to-date for 2021.

"This maybe down to concerns that banks could struggle to match the performance of the last 12 months, as speculation over possible rate rises tempers economic growth expectations and lending activity."

Tuesday 18 January

INTERIMS

Accrol Group Holdings, Kromek Group

GMS

Clinigen Group

FINALS

Pressure Technologies, Watkin Jones

EGMS

Hellenic Telecom Industries SA ADS

AGMS

C4X Discovery Holdings , Carr's Group, Smart (J) & Co., Tracsis

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

888 Holdings, Elementis, Henry Boot, IntegraFin Holding, Marshalls, Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI), ProCook Group, Rio Tinto

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Claimant Count Rate (07:00)

Unemployment Rate (07:00)