Wednesday preview: UK CPI, Tesco in the spotlight
Tesco
366.90p
16:45 27/12/24
Inflation will continue to be in the spotlight on Wednesday, but this time chiefly in the UK.
Food & Drug Retailers
4,460.72
16:29 27/12/24
FTSE 100
8,149.78
16:54 27/12/24
FTSE 350
4,495.62
16:29 27/12/24
FTSE All-Share
4,453.14
17:05 27/12/24
At 0700 GMT, the Office for National Statistics will release its reading on consumer prices in March and consensus is that they picked up from an annual rate 6.2% during the previous month to 6.7%.
Economists at Barclays Research are expecting the data to reveal not just the jump in pump prices, but also that firms were continuing to pass on higher costs to consumers, as per the latest Bank of England survey data.
They also note how the 54% hike in energy prices planned for April was set to catapult headline CPI to 8.5%.
Price pressures are also set to be under the microscope Stateside, where the Department of Labor will release producer price data for March.
On home shores, the spotlight in the company arena will be on Tesco.
UBS analyst Sreedhar Mahamkali has penciled-in a 7% rise in full-year sales to £62.03bn, for a 56% surge in earnings before interest and taxes to £2.83bn and of 38% at the earnings per share level to 0.22p.
Mahamkali was also expecting the grocer to post £2.65bn of EBIT for Group Retail and retail free cash flow of £2.1bn.
He was also anticipating that management would provide a view on the company's annual capacity for regular buybacks and to potentially move to £750m for the year ahead.
On the other side of the Pond meanwhile, banking giant JP Morgan will update markets on its first quarter performance and may help set the tone for the rest of its sector this earnings season.
Wednesday 13 April
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Mid Wynd International Inv Trust
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
Assura
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)
Producer Price Index (US) (13:30)
FINALS
Petropavlovsk, Tesco
EGMS
Edita Food Industries S.A.E. GDR (REGS)
AGMS
AssetCo, Smith & Nephew
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Novolipetsk Steel GDS (Reg S), Pagegroup, PJSC Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works GDR (Reg S)
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Consumer Price Index (07:00)
Producer Price Index (07:00)
Retail Price Index (07:00)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Athelney Trust