LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - The spotlight on Thursday will shift across the Channel, with investors waiting on the latest reading for IHS Markit's closely-followed manufacturing and services sector Purchasing Managers' indices covering the month of April.
In particular, they will be looking for any sign of improvement in Germany's factory sector, but also in French manufacturing.

Back on home turf, at 0930 BST the Office for National Statistics will publish retail sales data covering that same month.

The consensus forecast is for an improvement in the headline rate of sales from 4.0% year-on-year to 4.6%, although according to economists i Barclays that will in part be due to positive so-called 'base effects'.

The flow of data in the States won't let up, Easter or not, including on retail sales in March and the Philly Fed's regional manufacturing gauge.

On the corporate side of things, analysts at UBS expected consumer goods giant Unilever to post a 2.6% rise in organic sales over the first quarter, entirely as a result of improved pricing (consensus: 2.8%).

Among the key moving parts underlying that forecast, the Swiss investment bank expected growth in Brazil to normalise towards around mid single digit growth after the 10% jump observed in the back half of 2018 and weakness at Carver Korea, offset by a reduced headwind from declining volumes in Argentina in quarter-on-quarter terms.

Across the Pond, quarterly updates are due from American Express, Blackstone, Honeywell, Philip Morris and SunTrust Banks.

Thursday April 18

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust, Thorpe (F.W.)

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE

SCS Group

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Marble Point Loan Financing Limited NPV, Supermarket Income Reit, TwentyFour Select Monthly Income Fund Limited

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Business Inventories (US) (15:30)

Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)

Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)

Philadelphia Fed Index (US) (13:30)

Producer Price Index (GER) (07:00)

Retail Sales (US) (13:30)

Wholesale Price Index (GER) (07:00)

IMSS

Reckitt Benckiser Group

SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Rio Tinto

SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Bodycote, John Laing Group

EGMS

UK Commercial Property Reit Limited

AGMS

Domino's Pizza Group, Green Energy Technology Inc. GDR (Reg S), Octopus AIM VCT 2, SEGRO

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Moneysupermarket.com Group, PZ Cussons, Reckitt Benckiser Group, Rentokil Initial, Unilever

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Athelney Trust, Chemring Group, Crest Nicholson Holdings, Heavitree Brewery, Heavitree Brewery 'A' Shares, Law Debenture Corp., Rio Tinto, Transgloble Energy Corporation NPV (DI)

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Aggreko, BAE Systems, Bodycote, Capital & Counties Properties , Centamin (DI), Drax Group, Hastings Group Holdings , Hunting, Inmarsat, John Laing Group , Kaz Minerals , M. P. Evans Group, National Express Group, Pendragon, Polypipe Group , Property Franchise Group, Quixant, Rathbone Brothers, Reckitt Benckiser Group, RPS Group, Stilo International, Trinity Exploration & Production, Tyman, Vesuvius, Vitec Group

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