Week Ahead: Persimmon, Hays, BoE rate decision

2nd Jul 2010 11:45

Housebuilders and recruitment firms will be in the spotlight next week, with the likes of Persimmon, Bovis, Hays and Michael Page releasing trading updates.Panmure Gordon said it will be "interested to hear whether Persimmon will echo Taylor Wimpey's comments that sales have strengthened in recent weeks. This will give us a clearer picture on current market conditions."When it last updated the market, on 22 April, Persimmon said sales had remained consistent since the beginning of March and were running around 20% higher than a year earlier, in value terms. Volumes were up by around 11%.Panmure Gordon thinks sales may have softened around the time of the general election. The broker is a fan of the stock and thinks the company could potentially announce write-backs that would add 60p to the net asset value per share once its gets "a clearer picture of market conditions and what direction it is moving in."Global recruitment firm Hays has been seeing progress in most of its markets, although the dynamics vary by region. Australia, which escaped recession, has seen improved trends and the picture is also getting brighter in other Asia-Pacific countries.In Continental Europe & the Rest of the World, the group has seen strong growth in Brazil and the early signs of recovery in Germany, but Spain and the United Arab Emirates remained on a downward trend in the first four months of 2010.This month's meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to determine the Bank of England's interest rate policy should be a bit more heated than recent meetings, with MPC members going public over the last week with their differences of opinion.Hawkish MPC member Andrew Sentence voted last month for a rate hike and said publicly that the time had arrived for the gradual withdrawal of stimulus measures.Fellow policymaker Adam Posen, however, said he doesn't think a "small slow upwards creep in inflation expectations" is "worth panicking over", and is definitely not a reason to tighten policy.Another MPC member, Paul Fisher, also warned against hasty rate rises. "We need to be sensitive to the risk of tightening policy prematurely, stifling the nascent recovery," he said, suggesting high inflation may have been caused by a "series of shocks", including the return of VAT to 17.5%, higher petrol prices and higher import prices.Monday July 05INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATERenew HoldingsINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSPMI Composite (EU) (09:00)PMI Composite (GER) (08:55)PMI Services (EU) (09:00)PMI Services (GER) (08:55)PMI Services (FRA) (08:50)Retail Sales (EU) (10:00)GMSMarwyn Capital I Ltd. (DI), TrafficmasterFINALSBraveheart Investment Group, NCC Group, OPG Power VenturesANNUAL REPORTSynergy Healthcare, Zoo DigitalEGMSCentral Rand GoldAGMSBig Yellow GroupTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSXP PowerUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSOfficial Reserves (09:30)PMI Composite (09:30)PMI Services (09:30)Bank of England Housing Equity Withdrawal (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAmiad Filtration Systems, Balfour Beatty, China Biodiesel International, Cobham, First Derivatives, Quarto Group, Tarsus GroupTuesday July 06INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEVictrexINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSABC Consumer Confidence (US) (22:00)ISM Non-Manufacturing (US) (15:00)ISM Services (US) (15:00)Unemployment Rate (EU) (10:00)FINALSAdEPT Telecom, Anite Group, SpiceIMSSBrown (N.) GroupEGMSChina Biodiesel InternationalAGMS3i Infrastructure, Blavod Wines and Spirits , Brown (N.) Group, China Biodiesel International, JPMorgan Income & Capital Inv Trust, Ortus VCT, Westside AcquisitionsTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSBalfour Beatty, PartyGaming, Persimmon, Tullow OilUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSNew Car Registrations (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAberdeen New Thai Inv Trust, Development Securities, French ConnectionWednesday July 07INTERIMSIDOXINTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATEATH Resources, CareTech Holding, Chrysalis VCT, Dunedin Smaller Companies Inv Trust, ITE Group, Japan Leisure Hotels, Octopus Phoenix VCT, Octopus Titan VCT 1, Octopus Titan VCT 2, Pressure Technologies, Safestore, Sinclair (William) Holdings, THB GroupQUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATEBritish Land Co, Schroder Income Growth FundINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCrude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)Factory Orders (GER) (11:00)GDP (2nd release) (EU) (10:00)MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)Trade Balance (FRA) (07:45)Household Consumption (EC) (10:00)Government Expenditure (EC) (10:00)FINALSGreat Eastern Energy Corp. GDR, Northern Bear, Photo-Me InternationalANNUAL REPORTCropper (James)IMSSBig Yellow Group, Booker GroupAGMS3i Group, Aveva Group, Booker Group, Capital Gearing Trust, Eastern European Trust, IBIS Media VCT, Leni Gas & Oil, May Gurney Integrated Services, PayPointTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSCape, Carillion, CRHUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBRC Shop Price Index (00:01)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATECineworld Group, Restaurant Group, Staffline GroupFINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATEBond International Software, Burberry Group, Chloride Group, De La Rue, Hyder Consulting, Investment Company (The), Monks Inv Trust, New Century AIM VCT 2, Octopus Protected VCT 1, Rensburg AIM VCT, Shanks Group, Vedanta Resources, Walker Greenbank, WincantonThursday July 08INTERIMSSandvine CorporationQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEGlaxoSmithKlineINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBalance of Trade (GER) (07:00)Bank of France Business Sentiment (FRA) (07:30)Consumer Credit (US) (20:00)Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)Current Account (GER) (07:00)ECB Interest Rate (EU) (12:45)Industrial Production (GER) (11:00)Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)Leading Indicator Index (JPN) (05:00)Q2Sandvine CorporationFINALSBegbies Traynor GroupIMSSAssociated British FoodsEGMSMaple EnergyAGMSAlbany Inv Trust, Condor Resources, FirstGroup, Framlington AIM VCT 2, Great Portland Estates, JPMorgan European Fledgling Inv Trust, London & Stamford Property, Man Group, Maven Income and Growth VCT , ORA Capital, Robert WisemanTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSHaysUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBoE Interest Rate Decision (12:00)Industrial Production (09:30)Manufacturing Production (09:30)NIESR Gross Domestic Product estimateFriday July 09INTERIMSCharlemagne Capital, HeavitreeINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEAlbion Income & Growth VCT, Daily Mail and General Trust, Redefine International, Redhall GroupQUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEBritish Assets TrustINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSConsumer Price Index(GER) (07:00)Wholesales Inventories (US) (15:00)Manufacturing Output (FRA) (07:45)Industrial Production (FRA) (07:45)GMSGalantas Gold CorporationEGMSDP Property Europe LimitedAGMSBrainspark, Independent Resources, Norkom Group, Shires Income, TyraTech, Value and Income TrustTRADING ANNOUNCEMENTSBovis Homes Group, Interserve, Michael Page International, SIG, X5 Retail Group GDR (Reg S)UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBalance of Trade (09:30)Producer Price Index (09:30)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE3i Infrastructure, Albion Prime VCT, Booker Group, Hill and Smith, Morgan Crucible, Northern 3 VCT, Octopus Apollo VCT 1, Octopus Apollo VCT 2, Octopus Eclipse VCT 2, Pinewood-Shepperton, Prezzo, Prime People, Shed Media, Tesco