Wednesday preview: Chinese foreign trade, Legal & General in focus

6th Aug 2024 10:09

(Sharecast News) - Financial markets' attention will shift to outside the US on Wednesday, barring surprises.

Overnight, China's Customs Administration will publish foreign trade figures covering the month of July.

They will be followed at 0600 BST by German industrial production data for that same month.

In parallel, Halifax will release the results of its closely followed monthly survey of UK house prices.

On the corporate side of things, Legal & General was due to report first half earnings.

UBS analyst Nasib Ahmed believed the market spotlight would be on a possible sale of the company's CALA build-to-sell division.

The company had already provided markets with guidance for its operating profit.

Ahmed said that he was 2% ahead of consensus on operating profits but 10% above for its Retail division earnings, which he pegged at £298m.

He was also 3% ahead of consensus when it came to Legal&General's organic sales growth, as he was anticipating £350m of management actions, of which £175m were delivered in the first six months of 2024.