LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Markets' focus on Thursday will be squarely on Europe, especially on the outcome of the previous night's discussions between the Prime Minister and European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, to try and unblock a Brexit deal.






Investors will also be waiting on the results of the European Union heads of state summit, where both Brexit and the impasse with Hungary and Poland on the bloc's multi-year budget and Covid-19 rescue funds will both be on the table.

Against that backdrop, earlier the European Central Bank is expected to announce a boost to its asset purchases.

Economists at Barclays Research were anticipating an extension of favourable TLTRO III conditions until end-2021, an increase in the tiering multiplier to 10 times and a prolongation of the Covid-19 asset purchase programme, known as PEPP, until at least end-2021, with a €500bn increase the size of the purchase envelope while leaving the door open for more if necessary.

On home shores, gross domestic product data was expected to reveal a pace of expansion of 0.4% month-on-month with construction output especially strong at up by 1.0%.

Also due out is the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyor's house price balance for November.

Stateside meanwhile, investors focus will be on consumer price data for November and the latest batch of weekly jobless claims figures.

Ahead of TUI AG's full-year results, Morgan Stanley's Jamie Rollo said he was most interested in knowing the cost of the €1.8bn financing package agreed with the German government and investors on 3 November and in management's guidance for cash burn in the front half of 2021.

For the travel operator's fourth quarter meanwhile, Rollo had penciled-in a 72% drop in sales to €2.1bn with a flow-through EBITDA margin of 24% and monthly fixed costs of €280m, for three-month earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of -€0.1bn, up from -€0.8bn of red ink in the third quarter.

Net debt was seen rising by about €1bn in the fourth quarter from €3.5bn at the end of September and seen hitting €6bn at December with Rollo estimating that cash burn had been running at €0.5bn per month.

Full-year EBITDA meanwhile was pegged to come in at -€1.4bn and earnings before interest and tax at -€2.1bn (consensus: -€2.3bn) on €8.8bn of sales for earnings per share of -€3.77.

Thursday 10 December

INTERIMS

Cohort, DWF Group , Smith (DS)

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

British American Inv Trust

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Alpha Financial Markets Consulting, Aquila Services Group, Charles Stanley Group, Clipper Logistics , D4T4 Solutions, Gresham House Strategic , Homeserve, Intermediate Capital Group, Investec, Investec Non-Red Non-Cum Non-Part Prf Shs, Mercia Technologies , Ninety One , Puma Vct 11, Severfield, TR Property Inv Trust, Walker Crips Group

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

Brunner Inv Trust, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION COM STK USD0.20 (CDI), Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.NPV (CDI)

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Alpha Real Trust Ltd., Assura , Real Estate Credit Investments Ltd, Tritax Eurobox (EUR), Tritax Eurobox (GBP), XP Power Ltd. (DI)

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Consumer Price Index (US) (13:30)

Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)

Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)

GMS

EKF Diagnostics Holdings

FINALS

Character Group, Marston's, On The Beach Group , RWS Holdings

SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Braveheart Investment Group

AGMS

7Digital Group , Aberdeen Latin American Income Fund Ltd , Amur Minerals Corporation NPV, Asia Dragon Trust , Bioventix, Ceres Power Holdings, Chelverton Growth Trust, Doric Nimrod Air One Ltd, Doric Nimrod Air Three Limited Red Ord Pref Shs Npv, Doric Nimrod Air Two Ltd Pref Shs Npv, Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd., Lok'n Store Group, MJ Hudson Group NPV, Petro Matad Ltd., PRS Reit (The) , Softcat, Upland Resources Limited NPV, Windar Photonics, YouGov

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ocado Group

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Balance of Trade (07:00)

Gross Domestic Product (07:00)

Index of Services (07:00)

Industrial Production (07:00)

Manufacturing Production (07:00)

RICS Housing Market Survey (00:01)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Fidelity Asian Values, Springfield Properties

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Aeci 5 1/2% Prf, Gresham House Renewable Energy VCT 1 , Gresham House Renewable Energy VCT 1 A Shares, Gresham House Renewable Energy VCT 2, Gresham House Renewable Energy VCT 2 A Shares, Orchard Funding Group , Oxford Metrics, Witan Investment Trust Plc

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