A brief look at last week and the week ahead, the Weekly Review from IG Index.
Weekly Trading Report 18 January 2010 - Last Week's Trading Highlights
The year's second full trading week brought some cheer to investors, with forecasts that the UK is on the brink of officially coming out of recession, while retailers also reported upbeat festive sales.
Tuesday's fourth-quarter survey provided enough evidence to suggest the UK economy is now growing, at least according to the BCC. The following day's NIESR estimate claimed UK GDP climbed 0.3% in the final three months of last year – the first official estimate follows on 26 January.
Supporting these surveys, ONS data showed that November's industrial production output increased slightly above expectations, climbing 0.4% against October’s figure.
Strong high street sales added to the positive sentiment for shares. Tuesday's BRC data confirmed that retailers experienced their strongest December since 2001 after like-for-like sales rose 4.2% compared to a year earlier.
Outdoors retailer Blacks Leisure kick-started the upbeat statements on Monday, reporting a like-for-like 12% rise in half-year sales, despite having closed 87 stores last year.
The good news continued on Thursday with a number of high street giants unveiling their latest figures. DSG International, owner of Currys and PC World, said like-for-like group sales jumped 8% year-on-year in the three months to 9 January, while Argos and Homebase parent Home Retail Group upped its full-year forecast to £285 million after a better-than-expected first six months.
Greggs, the bakery store, and discount clothing chain Primark also reported sales growth, with the latter seeing overall sales leap 19% in the quarter to 2 January.
HMV Group was the notable retailer to disappoint, after weak numbers from its Waterstones book stores dragged group like-for-like sales down 1.2%.
On Tuesday, Kraft's attempted hostile takeover of Cadbury took another twist after the UK confectioner said its 'outstanding' performance last year meant that the unwelcome bid does not represent value for shareholders.
Chairman Roger Carr's assertion that a takeover would also be detrimental for its workforce was borne out on Wednesday after trade union Unite estimated 7000 UK jobs could go.
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Weekly Trading Report 18 January 2010 - The Week Ahead
Indicators
In the UK, the BoE will release minutes from its first monetary policy committee meeting of the year on Wednesday.
Also of interest midweek will be the announcement of labour market figures in the UK, and retail sales data, which closes the week out on Friday morning.
Company Results and Reports
Another very quiet week in the UK is offset by a full reporting calendar in the US.
The financial sector is especially busy, with quarterlies from Citigroup on Tuesday, Bank of America, BNY Mellon and Morgan Stanley on Wednesday and AmEx and Goldman Sachs on Thursday.
In-the-news Google will also release Q4 figures on Thursday.
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For previous weeks see below.
Note - Spread Betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and you can lose more than your initial investment, it may not be suitable for all investors. Ensure you only speculate with money that you can afford to lose and that you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.
'Financial Spread Betting 18 January 2010', Review by D. Jones, last update: 18-Jan-10
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