Wednesday preview: Brexit and Italy, US data in focus

20th Nov 2018 15:11

(Sharecast News) - The state of the ongoing Brexit negotiations will contine to be firmly in focus on Wednesday as the Prime Minister visits Brussels for talks with European Commission chief Jean Claude Juncker.In particular, investors will be watching for any details regarding the future framework with the European Union as they try and gauge the odds of it getting past Parliament - although at present some analysts see scant chance of that in a first vote.As of Tuesday evening, the European Union's remaining members were scheduled to vote on the content of that political declaration on the following Friday.Stateside, the flow of economic data will intensify on Wednesday with a raft of high-frequency economic data on tap, although investors are likely to be in a very cautious mood ahead of a possible decision by Brussels on whether to start an Excessive Deficit Procedure against Italy.Among the reports scheduled to be published in the US are figures on durable goods orders and existing home sales for October, weekly jobless claims and a final reading for November on the University of Michigan's consumer confidence gauge.Back in the UK, ONS is due to release public sector finance figures for October.Among the companies that are set to update markets at the end of the week in the UK are Johnson Matthey and TalkTalk.Commenting on the former, analysts at Deutsche Bank said they had penciled-in a 6% year-on-year rise in operating profits at the half-year stage to reach £266m.Analyst Robin Draeger was also expecting the chemicals and emissions specialist to reiterate full-year guidance for a high single-digit increase in operating profits, at constant exchange rates, and to provide an update on progress in battery materials.Draeger described visibility at the company's Clean Air unit as "good" and said that Johnson Matthey remained on track to deliver market share gains in Europe.Its Health arm was also expected to begin benefiting from new product launches starting from the back half of the year. For TalkTalk, the consensus forecast is for its six-month sales was growth of 0.7% year-on-year to £774m on the back of "modest" growth in On-net revenues with net adds running at roughly 25,000 for the quarter and 105,000 for the half-year.EBITDA meanwhile was seen ahead by 5.3% on the year to £100m, thanks to a reduction in wholesale costs, with net debt pegged at £744m.Wednesday November 21INTERIMSAlpha Financial Markets Consulting, Babcock International Group, Biffa, Creightons, Helical, Johnson Matthey, Liontrust Asset Management, NewRiver REIT, Syncona Limited NPV, TalkTalk Telecom Group , United Utilities GroupINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCrude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)Durable Goods Orders (US) (13:30)Existing Home Sales (US) (15:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)U. of Michigan Confidence (US) (15:00)Q3KingfisherFINALSC4X Discovery Holdings , Cambria Automobiles, Countryside Properties, Marston's, Paragon Banking Group, Sage Group, SSP GroupAGMSCeltic, F&C UK Real Estate Investments Limited, Finsbury Food Group, SCS Group , UIL Limited (DI)TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSBreedon GroupUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPublic Sector Net Borrowing (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEHenderson EuroTrust, Ideagen