UK stocks are set to kick off the first full week of 2004 with trading updates from clothing chain Next and jewellery retailer Signet, which may offer some clues to how the retail sector fared over Christmas.
Bookseller and newsagent WH Smith has already said that disappointing sales and margin pressure meant its annual profits for 2004 would miss forecasts, causing worries that other retailers might have suffered the same fate.
But analysts said the outlook for the market as a whole was broadly positive.
On Friday the FTSE-100 index was trading just above 4,500 points, heading for its tenth straight session of gains and having gained nearly four percent during this same period.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we paused in January but the trend at the moment is climbing steadily. There's no loss of momentum and at this point in time there's no need to be concerned," said Richard Lake of Brewin Dolphin.
On the economic agenda, the Bank of England holds its January meeting on interest rates.
Many economists are predicting a rate hike later in the year, but Thursday's decision is widely expected to see rates kept at 3.75 percent.
Attention is also aimed at the US, where the Institute for Supply Management releases its December non-manufacturing index on Tuesday.
The reading is a measure of the service sector that makes up roughly three-quarters of total US economic output.
Clothing retailer Next is the first blue-chip company expected to bring investors up to speed with its trading update on Tuesday, followed by smaller sector peers Big Food Group , which owns Iceland frozen food stores, while jewellery chain Signet follow on Thursday.
Some dealers were optimistic about what Signet might have to say, after fellow jewellery retail chain Goldsmiths reported a bumper Christmas at the end of December and said it planned to open 10 new stores.
The updates are a precursor to trading statements due out later this month from well known high-street names Marks & Spencer, New Look and Burberry as well as results from electronics chain Dixons.
Outside the retail sector, construction materials firm Travis Perkins features with a trading statement on Wednesday.
Fire-fighting equipment maker Kidde updates the market on Thursday, after saying in September it was comfortable with market forecasts for year profits, while services group Interserve steps into the spotlight on Friday.
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