LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - The spotlight on Wednesday will be on a meeting between the Prime Minister and European Commission chief Jean Claude Juncker, as officials on both sides of the Channel continue efforts to agree on the least damaging from of Brexit possible.
In the background, US-China trade will not be far from investors' minds, although perhaps the most important day on that front is likely to be Friday, the second day of contacts scheduled between the US Treasury Secretary and Trade Representative, on the one hand, and China's Vice-Premier on the other.

No major economic releases are scheduled in the UK for Wednesday.

Stateside meanwhile, investors will be waiting on the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting.

In the corporate space, Glencore and Lloyds are likely to be the focus of attention.

For the former, analysts at UBS are anticipating the first sequential drop in operating profits since 2015 on an EBIT basis, from $1.5bn to $1.2bn, alongside an increase in the commodity trader's net debt to roughly $13.5bn.

They are still expecting a further $1.0bn in share buybacks to be announced, but now see a risk that repurchases will be paused.

On a more positive note, the Swiss broker believed political risks in the Democratic Republic of Congo were waning.

Despite reports suggesting the possibility of 'opportunistic' acquisitions, UBS believed management would continue to prioritise cash returns.

For Lloyds on the other hand, UBS was anticipating "another set of uneventful numbers with the bank under good control, managing volumes against price in lending, tough conditions in Other Operating Income and solid credit quality."

The full-year dividend meanwhile was seen rising by 7% to 3.30p per share, alongside £1.5bn of share buybacks.

Analyst Jason Napier pegged the lender's fourth quarter profits before tax at £1.8bn on an adjusted basis, including remediation costs of £141m and UK bank levy of £200m.

"LBG is, in our view, an undervalued, strongly capital generative bank, operating with a cost advantage in a competitive market and with decent medium-term growth opportunities in lending, savings, investments and general insurance."

Wednesday February 20

INTERIMS

Pan African Resources

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Building Permits (US) (13:30)

Current Account (EU) (09:00)

Housing Starts (US) (13:30)

MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)

Producer Price Index (GER) (07:00)

FINALS

Glencore , Hochschild Mining, Intu Properties, Lloyds Banking Group, Temple Bar Inv Trust

ANNUAL REPORT

Intu Properties

AGMS

Gooch & Housego, Titon Holdings

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Gooch & Housego

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