Wednesday preview: Fed Chair Janet Yellen, UK housing in focus

1st Jul 2014 17:35

The Wednesday session will be rather light in terms of the flow of economic data at the global level, with only the US ADP employment report possibly inducing a reaction from traders. That report on private sector payrolls from consultancy ADP attempts to anticipate the outcome of the US government's own monthly non-farm payrolls figures which are usually published on the following Friday, but this time around on Thursday due to the July 4th holiday. However, it is not atypical to see wide divergences between one and the other for any given month. Having said that, a speech by Fed chair Janet Yellen, at 16:00, in Washington D.C., will be closely watched. That is because some Fed watchers are starting to eye the possibility that the Fed might move a little sooner to raise its benchmark interest rate than was thought to be the case up until now. In the UK on the other hand traders will be kept busy by the latest figures on house prices, courtesy of Nationwide, alongside the latest reading on Markit's construction sector PMI. The corporate news-flow will also revolve around housing. Homebuilder Persimmon is due to update investors.In its first quarter IMS the firm reported strong private and forward sales. Shareholders will be keen to know what management now makes of the outlook for the sector in the wake of recent moves by policymakers to curtail house prices and increasing expectations for a rise in Bank Rate. Wednesday July 02INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEBlackrock Income And Growth Investment Trust, Chrysalis VCT, CQS Diversified Fund Ltd Ord NPV £, Driver Group, Dunedin Smaller Companies Inv Trust, ITE Group, Paragon Group Of CompaniesQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEBlackrock North American Income Trust , Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEBritish Land Co, Schroder Income Growth FundINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCrude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)Factory Orders (US) (15:00)GDP (2nd release) (EU) (10:00)Goods Orders (US) (15:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Producer Price Index (EU) (10:00)FINALSAnite, GB GroupIMSSCarillionSPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEElectronic Data ProcessingAGMSBH Global Ltd. GBP Shares, Home Retail Group, IBIS Media VCT 1, Landore Resources Ltd., NewRiver Retail LimitedTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSPersimmon, Tullow OilUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPMI Construction (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAmec, Bioquell, Management Consulting Group, Nationwide Accident Repair ServicesFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEAlpha Real Trust Ltd., Amati Vct 2, Babcock International Group, Bisichi Mining, British Smaller Companies VCT, Brown (N.) Group, Burberry Group, CML Microsystems, Cranswick, Dairy Crest Group, De La Rue, Dee Valley Group, Dee Valley Group (Non-Voting), Grafenia , Halfords Group, Helical Bar, Homeserve, ICAP, Impellam Group, JQW, Keywords Studios, Montanaro UK Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Naibu Global International Company, Northern 3 VCT, Northern Investors Co, REA Holdings, Rensburg AIM VCT, Royal Mail, Sepura, Shanks Group, TalkTalk Telecom GroupAB