Wednesday preview: China, Greece, ECB and Fed in focus (in that order)

14th Jul 2015 19:40

(ShareCast News) - Burberry's first quarter figures will make for a very interesting read given the company has the pulse on the demand for luxury goods in several markets in which traders now have a particularly keen interest, not least China.A raft of macroeconomic data from Asia's largest economy, including on GDP, investment and retail sales due out first thing on Wednesday morning may help to further clarify matters - or muddy the waters even further.Morgan Stanley expects the chic merchandise designer to post like-for-like sales growth of 6% for the three months to the end of June.On the domestic front, trading updates from the likes of Halfords and JD Wetherspoon will provide some insight on how consumers are going about spending the windfall from the drop in the cost of living.Numis expects fourth quarter like-for-like sales at the pub operator to print at up 4%. Nonetheless, "our/market assumptions that margins stabilise in 2015 may be too optimistic due to "increased competition from supermarkets and restaurant groups, together with additional staff and repair costs" analyst Douglas Jack said in a research report e-mailed to clients.How long will the windfall for consumers' purchasing power from the oil price drop last? The latest data on average weekly earnings from ONS, due out at 09:30 BST, may help to elucidate investors. It may also feed into slightly more aggressive forecasts for the timing of the first increase in Bank Rate.Stateside, US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's half-yearly testimony before the US House of Representatives's Financial Services committee, something roughly akin to the Treasury Select Committee, may shed some further light on her thinking regarding when interest rates on the other side of the Pond should start heading higher. Then again, it may not.Lastly, tomorrow is the deadline for the parliament in Athens to approve the set of reforms asked for by creditors. The European Central Bank's review of its funding for Greek banks, also tomorrow, may well hinge on it.Wednesday 15 JulyINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAlternative Networks, Topps TilesINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCapacity Utilisation (US) (14:15)Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)Industrial Production (US) (14:15)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Producer Price Index (US) (13:30)Wholesale Price Index (GER) (07:00)GMSECR MineralsFINALSFalanx Group Ltd, Heath (Samuel) & SonsIMSSIntermediate Capital Group, Severn Trent, Workspace GroupSPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATESpirax-Sarco EngineeringEGMSSan Leon EnergyAGMS1Spatial, BT Group, BTG, E2V Technologies, Griffin Mining Ltd., ICAP, Intermediate Capital Group, Macromac , RPC Group, Severn Trent, Speedy Hire, Stallion Resources , Syqic, Work Group, Workspace GroupTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSBurberry Group, Halfords Group, OJSC Novolipetsk Steel GDS (Reg S)UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSClaimant Count Rate (09:30)Unemployment Rate (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAlliance Pharma, JPMorgan Euro Small Co. Trust, UTV Media