Money Minute, Wednesday 2 October: Tesco results and UK construction

For more like this, sign up to Money Morning, our free daily email.
This morning, in the UK, we get first-half figures from supermarket giant Tesco. Inevitably, any comments on the potential impact of Brexit will be pored over closely by the press. However, investors will pay most attention to like-for-like sales growth, and for signs of any strategy to tackle competition from the discount chains, Aldi and Lidl.

There may also be comment on Tesco’s recent decision to sell its mortgage business to Lloyds Banking Group.
We also get the latest ISM Construction Index for the UK. The reading for August showed the sharpest decline since August 2009. Recent weak readings have largely been blamed on uncertainty over the timing and outcome of Brexit.
In the US, we get the ADP private payrolls data. Markets keep an eye on this as it is often seen as providing a sneak preview of Friday’s unemployment data, although the correlation between the two is weak.  A big surprise in either direction could move the market.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *