Wednesday preview: US jobs market, Tesco on investors' minds
Tesco
372.30p
16:55 03/01/25
Investors' minds on Wednesday are likely to be on the US jobs market as consultancy ADP releases its closely-followed private sector payrolls report.
Food & Drug Retailers
4,478.68
16:54 03/01/25
FTSE 100
8,223.98
16:59 03/01/25
FTSE 350
4,534.15
16:54 03/01/25
FTSE All-Share
4,490.88
17:14 03/01/25
They will be hoping that it might give them a steer on Friday's eagerly awaited monthly non-farm payrolls figures.
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell himself recently said the US might be just one jobs report away for the central bank to begin "going ahead with taper".
Nevertheless, the ADP is notorious for being less than reliable in accurately predicting the official jobs report for any given month.
Across the Channel meanwhile, factory orders and industrial production data covering the month of August will be published in Germany and Spain, respectively.
On home shore, the lone economic indicator due to be published is IHS Markit's construction sector Purchasing Managers' Index for September, at 0930 BST.
Further afield, rate-setters in New Zealand are due to meet to decide on policy.
For Tesco's first half results, UBS analyst Sreedhar Mahamkali expects the grocer to report industry-beating sales.
To back up his forecast, he pointed to proprietary UBS data according to which Tesco's net promoter score was at its best ever level, as ALDI/LIDL "continue to deteriorate".
Indeed, Tesco enjoyed "strong" price perception, had demonstrated the "best" customer experience and overall industry growth remained robust.
He was also anticipating that management would provide "clarity" around the company's free cash flow and shareholder returns.
"With upgrades and clarity around investment thesis to emerge, we expect the shares to re-rate from here and reverse the YTD underperformance (+10% YTD vs. c20% for the sector ex MRW)," the analyst judged.
His estimate was for six-month earnings before interest and taxes of £1.35bn at Tesco.
Wednesday 06 October
INTERIMS
Allied Minds , Tesco
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Savills
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)
Factory Orders (GER) (07:00)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)
Retail Sales (EU) (10:00)
FINALS
Netcall
IMSS
City of London Group
AGMS
Goodwin Plc, Miton Global Opportunities
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Ferrexpo, Sirius Real Estate Ltd.
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
PMI Construction (09:30)