Thursday preview: Hays, Clinton Cards

5th Jan 2011 16:29

The recruitment group Hays kicks off a series of updates from the sector. Hays has been looking east of late, seeking to plug the gap left by weakness in the UK and other European countries. Asia-Pacific is expected to lead the charge in Thursday's update."We think the public sector weakness has now fully played out and that Hays has a strong, well positioned international business with good exposure to key Asian and South American markets," says the broker Peel Hunt.Clinton Cards said in October that it was 'cautious' ahead of the Christmas trading period after seeing a fall in sales in the first 10 weeks of its financial year. High Street retailers Next and HMV have already reported the adverse effects of bad weather, so it will be interesting to see if Clinton has also suffered.TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSClinton Cards, HaysUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPMI Composite (09:30)PMI Services (09:30)INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSFactory Orders (GER) (11:00)Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)