Week ahead: Politics, ECB and BoJ in focus
The spotlight during the coming week will be firmly on politics, with investors closely monitoring the news-flow from Capitol Hill surrounding the fight in the US Senate to pass a short-term funding bill for the federal government.
Just as important, more even, on 21 January delegates from Germany's SPD are set to vote on whether or not to start formal negotiations with the CDU/CSU on forming a grand coalition.
Against that backdrop, on Tuesday ONS will publish its public sector borrowing figures for December, followed by the monthly employment report on the following day.
Increasingly, some analysts are watching the incoming wage data contained in that report ever more closely, convinced that it will soon reflect tightening conditions in the labour market.
"Having seen headline inflation for December give conflicting signals earlier this week, with CPI slipping back to 3%, but RPI pushing further away from 4% it is more important than ever that wages growth shows further signs of edging higher in the three months to November.
"The omens look positive having seen a significant increases in the minimum wage start to show up in the numbers. London wages have risen in excess of 4.5%, while elsewhere in the country we’ve seen rises of up to 3.6%, for up to 150k workers, and this really ought to start pulling the headline rate higher," said Michael Hewson, CMC Markets' chief market analyst told clients.
Across the Channel, the main release will be Wednesday's preliminary manufacturing and services sector Purchasing managers' Indices from the euro area.
The European Central Bank's policy meeting and follow-up press conference by chief Mario Draghi, on Thursday, will also be closely watched for any hint that the end of Frankfurt's bond purchase programme might be closer than previously thought.
Separate surveys on the German economy courtesy of the ZEW and IFO think tanks, on Tuesday and Thursday, will also garner a fair bit of attention.
Stateside, the main release will come on Friday, when Commerce publishes durable goods orders data on Friday.
Lastly, but not least, markets will be on their guard for any surprises from the Bank of Japan's policy meeting, on Tuesday.
Monday 22 January
INTERIMS
Accrol Group Holdings
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Bonmarche Holdings, Jupiter Emerging & Frontier Income Trust RED
GMS
Molins
EGMS
JSC KazMunaiGaz Exploration Production GDR (Reg S)
AGMS
Ixico
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Computacenter, Goals Soccer Centres, Mortgage Advice Bureau (Holdings) , Revolution Bars Group, Safestyle UK , Safestyle UK
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Cambria Automobiles, Proactis Holdings
Tuesday 23 January
INTERIMS
IG Group Holdings
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
BBA Aviation 5% Cum Prf
FINALS
Benchmark Holdings , Harwood Wealth Management Group, Lakehouse, Velocity Composites
AGMS
Connect Group, Marston's, Mitchells & Butlers
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Brown (N.) Group, Cairn Energy, Dixons Carphone , DP Eurasia N.V. (DI) , Marston's, Petropavlovsk, Pets at Home Group
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
CBI Industrial Trends Surveys (15:35)
Public Sector Net Borrowing (09:30)
Q1
easyJet
Wednesday 24 January
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)
House Price Index (US) (14:00)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)
PMI Composite (GER) (08:55)
PMI Manufacturing (GER) (08:55)
PMI Services (GER) (08:55)
FINALS
Crest Nicholson Holdings, Staffline Group
AGMS
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust, Henderson Alternative Strategies Trust , McCarthy & Stone, Troy Income & Growth Trust, WH Smith
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Antofagasta, Crest Nicholson Holdings, Empresaria Group, Fresnillo, Getbusy, Hotel Chocolat Group , Polymetal International, Sage Group, STM Group, Wetherspoon (J.D.), WH Smith
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Claimant Count Rate (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Diploma, Majedie Investments
Thursday 25 January
INTERIMS
CPL Resources, Diageo, Renishaw, Sky
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Dairy Crest Group, Hibernia Reit
INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE
City of London Investment Trust 4.2% Non-Cum 2nd Prf Stk, K3 Capital Group , Livermore Investments Group Ltd., NB Private Equity Partners Ltd., NCC Group, Pennon Group, Puma VCT 10 , Puma VCT 9, Solid State, Stagecoach Group
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
General Electric Co
QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Blue Capital Alternative Income Fund Ltd (DI), City of London Inv Trust, Custodian Reit , M Winkworth, Merchants Trust
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)
ECB Interest Rate (EU) (12:45)
GFK Consumer Confidence (GER) (07:00)
IFO Business Climate (GER) (09:00)
Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)
New Homes Sales (US) (15:00)
Q2
Sky
GMS
OptiBiotix Health
FINALS
Blue Prism Group
IMSS
Brewin Dolphin Holdings
SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Next
AGMS
Conygar Investment Company, Countryside Properties, Game Digital, Hargreave Hale AIM VCT 1, Henderson European Focus Trust, ITE Group, LightwaveRF , RDI Reit , Standard Life Private Equity Trust
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Anglo American, ASOS, Close Brothers Group, Countryside Properties, Daily Mail and General Trust A (Non.V), Fuller Smith & Turner, Fuller Smith & Turner, Greene King, ITE Group, Kaz Minerals , PayPoint, Restaurant Group, St James's Place
FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Cardiff Property, Elegant Hotels Group , Fenner, Gooch & Housego, RWS Holdings, Watkin Jones
Friday 26 January
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Aberdeen New Dawn Investment Trust, Auto Trader Group , Cranswick, Dixons Carphone , FIH Group , Fulcrum Utility Services Ltd. (DI), Latham (James), Northern 2 VCT, Northern 3 VCT, Northgate, RPC Group, Speedy Hire, Superdry
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
Aberdeen Diversified Income and Growth Trust , Real Estate Investors, Value and Income Trust
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Durable Goods Orders (US) (13:30)
M3 Money Supply (EU) (08:00)
FINALS
Kcell Joint Stock Co GDR (Reg S)
ANNUAL REPORT
Shoe Zone
AGMS
JPMorgan Chinese Inv Trust, Treatt, URA Holdings
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Gross Domestic Product (09:30)
FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Downing Four VCT DSO 'B' Shs, Downing Four VCT DSO 'C' Shs, Inland Homes, Maven Income & Growth 2 VCT
Now Democrats are opposed to another short-term solution prefering to use the need for one as leverage to force Republicans to clinch funding for the "Dreamers programme".