After Tuesday’s average earnings data showed UK wage growth at 3%, the highest level since the three months to December 2008, the market will be keen to see if the UK consumer price index (CPI) is continuing to go in the opposite direction, benefitting Briton’s wallets and purses.
September’s annual inflation rate eased back to 2.4%, down from 2.7% in the previous month, as price increases from food, transport and leisure activities slowed.
In a preview, Helal Miah, investment research analyst at The Share Centre said many investors will want to see the CPI rate heading even closer to the BoE’s target rate of 2%.
But he thinks this may be too much to ask in such a short period, especially given the stronger wage growth and the impact of higher oil prices in the summer months are still feeding through the system.
Real estate issues focus for British Land interims
Interim results from FTSE 100-listed British Land PLC (LON:BLND) should be the main corporate focus on Wednesday, with analysts at Barclays last week turning neutral on the real estate group in a cautious note on the sector.
They downgraded their rating for British Land to ‘equal-weight’ from ‘overweight’, cutting their target price to 580p from 730p, citing concerns that transaction markets have dried up, tenant failures have increased and valuation declines were evident.
Back in May, British Land posted an annual pre-tax profit of £501mln, up from £195mln a year earlier, while revenue increased to £639mln from £589mln, supported by the company’s strategy of targeting high-quality destination shopping centres and mixed-use London campuses.
Gloomy forecast for Flybe
On the second line, a gloomy trading update in October has left investors with little positivity ahead of Flybe Group PLC’s (LON:FLYB) interims on Wednesday.
Last month the budget airline warned that slowing demand for its domestic and near-continent flights will dent full-year earnings, sending shares into a nosedive.
Despite an encouraging first half, the group said it has been struggling to fill planes over the last month, a trend expected to continue into the second half.
Significant announcements expected on Wednesday November 14:
Interims: British Land PLC (LON:BLND), SSE plc (LON:SSE), Flybe Group PLC (LON:FLYB), Speedy Hire Plc (LON:SDY), Renold plc (LON:RNO), Workspace Group plc (LON:WKP)
Finals: Avon Rubber PLC (LON:AVON), AB Dynamics plc (LON:ABDP), Grainger PLC (LON:GRI)
Trading update: Cobham PLC (LON:COB), Smiths Group PLC (Q1) (LON:SMIN), Solgold PLC (Q1) (LON:SOLG), JPJ Group PLC (Q3) (LON:JPJ)
AGMs: Seeing Machines Ltd. (LON:SEE)
Economic data: UK CPI, RPI, PPI, HPI inflation; UK construction output; US CPI inflation