Wednesday preview: Biden speech, Next in the spotlight
Next
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16:40 22/04/24
US President Joe Biden is expected to take the spotlight at the end of the quarter as he lays out his case for a multi-trillion dollar package of infrastructure spending in a speech in Pittsburgh.
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Against that backdrop, at 1330 GMT consultancy ADP will publish its closely-followed private sector payrolls data for March.
Across the Channel meanwhile, attention will be German unemployment figures for March, which are scheduled to be published at 0855 GMT, followed by a preliminary reading for euro area consumer price inflation for the same month (consensus: 1.4% year-on-year).
On home shores meanwhile, at 0700 GMT the Office for National Statistics will publish a final reading on fourth quarter gross domestic product.
It will be published alongside the results of mortgage lender Nationwide's March house price survey.
On the corporate calendar for Wednesday, online fashion retailer Next is due to publish figures for its 2021 financial year.
However, UBS analyst, Olivia Townsend, anticipates that investors' focus will be on what the company has to say in terms of the outlook.
Aside from an update on current trading, she is looking for added colour from management on its Total Platform.
Regarding results for the firm's financial year ending on 31 January, the analyst saw less scope for upside surprises versus Next's own guidance for profits before tax of £342m.
Key in that respect, Next had already displayed caution about the potential extent of sales shifting from Retail to Online.
Similarly, Townsend did not expect management to change its already published scenario analysis for the company's 2022 financial year.
Wednesday 31 March
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Gattaca, James Halstead
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