There's are a number of key economic indicators due out in the UK and US on Friday, with the market's focus likely to be on crucial employment report Stateside scheduled for release at 08:30 in New York (13:30 London time).
Consensus estimates are for a 90,000 gain in non-farm payrolls in November, much worse than the 171,000 increase seen in October. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is expected to remain at 7.9%.
However, Neil Irwin from The Washington Post believes that the figures are going to be a "giant mess".
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"The biggest reason is Hurricane Sandy, which struck the Northeast at the tail end of October and has made most economic data in the last couple of weeks hard to parse," Irwin wrote on Thursday.
Other factors to take into account when considering the data include an early Thanksgiving, which could distort hiring patterns for retailers, and the looming 'fiscal cliff' which could hold back recruitment until the New Year.
As for this side of the Pond, UK industrial production figures are due out in the morning and are forecast to show a 0.5% monthly increase in October, compared with the 1.7% fall the month before.
However, manufacturing production is expected to slip by 0.2% month-on-month in the same month, compared with 0.1% increase in September.
INTERIMS
Berkeley Group Holdings (The), Photo-Me International, Polar Capital Holdings
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Amati VCT , Balfour Beatty, BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust, Elderstreet VCT, London & Stamford Property , Marshalls, Maven Income & Growth VCT, Metric Property Investments , Pace, Rotala, SThree, Stobart Group Ltd., Walker Crips Group, William Hill
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Barclays
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Consumer Credit (US) (20:00)
Unemployment Rate (US) (13:30)
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MedicX Fund Ltd.
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Narborough Plantations
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Air Partner, Associated British Foods, Bezant Resources, Frontier Mining Ltd (DI), LP Hill, Minco, Renewable Energy Generation Ltd.
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Industrial Production (09:30)
Manufacturing Production (09:30)
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Ashmore Group, BlackRock Greater Europe Inv Trust, Centaur Media, Craneware, James Halstead, JPMorgan Smaller Companies Inv Trust, Matchtech Group
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