Wednesday preview: ASOS, JD Sports, gilts auction

12th Apr 2011 18:07

It could be a teen fashion shoot out on Wednesday with online clothes shop ASOS and sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion both scheduled to make trading updates.Growth at ASOS has been at a rapid rate, leading many to fear that the shares will suffer a major correction the minute it becomes obvious that the company cannot keep up the breakneck pace.UK sales growth is already slowing but the company's Christmas trading update showed that international sales are picking up the slack.As for JD Sports Fashion, the company lifted profits guidance back in January and market expectations are now for pre-tax profits of around £79m for the year to 31 January 2011.Both companies may comment on tough times in the retail sector following the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) sales figures for March. UK retail sales values were down 1.9% on a total basis from March 2010, when sales had risen 6.6%, boosted by Good Friday and Easter Saturday falling in the March trading period, according to data out from the BRC.Stephen Robertson, Director General of the BRC, said: "This is the worst drop in total sales since we first collected these figures in 1995. Non-food retailers were particularly hard-hit. This is strong evidence of the pressure customers and traders are under. This year's later Easter is a factor but this fall goes way beyond anything that can be explained by that alone".Wednesday will also see the UK Debt Management Office auction a £5bn tranche of gilts bearing a coupon of 2.00%, redeemable in 2016. Analysts at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) expect the auction to go well, given "the good demand history for the 5-yr part of the curve.""From a value perspective, the bond has been cheapening up in outright yield terms (+36 basis points) since mid-March, though it remains more expensive than where it was at the beginning of 2011 (therefore still rich). Same story if we look at the near flies, though the bond is now cheaper than its first and latest auction," RBS said.INTERIMSSmiths NewsINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEAlbemarle & Bond Holdings, Next Fifteen Communications, Northamber, Thorpe (F.W.)QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEMercantile Inv Trust, Merchants TrustINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBeige Book Fed Survey (US) (19:00)Business Inventories (US) (13:30)Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)Industrial Production (EU) (10:00)Manufacturing Inventories (US) (15:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Retail Sales (US) (13:45)Retail Sales Inventories (US) (15:15)GMSPorta Communications FINALSHightex Group, JD Sports Fashion, Styles & Wood GroupEGMSCommercial International Bank (Egypt) SAE GDR (Reg S)AGMSAnglo Pacific Group, Drax Group, Shires Smaller Companies, Vitec GroupTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSASOSUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSClaimant Count Rate (09:30)Unemployment Rate (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBaronsmead VCT 4FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEAggreko, Arbuthnot Banking Group, BBA Aviation, Berendsen, BG Group, Capita Group, Capital & Counties Properties , Charles Taylor Consulting, Communisis, Costain Group, CPP Group, CQS Rig Finance Fund Ltd., Dealogic Holdings, Dunedin Enterprise Inv Trust, Edinburgh UK Tracker Trust, F&C Inv Trust, Filtrona PLC, Fisher (James) & Sons, Foresight 2 VCT, Foresight 2 VCT 'C' Shares, Forth Ports, Fyffes, GVC Holdings, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, IMI, Impax Environmental Markets, International Personal Finance, Interserve, John Wood Group, Jupiter Fund Management , Just Car Clinics Group, Kerry Group 'A' Shares, Melrose, Microgen, Mondi, Motivcom, Norish Units, Old Mutual, Psion, RPS Group, SEGRO, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, SR Europe Inv Trust, Timeweave, Tullow OilQ1JP Morgan Chase & Co---jh