Friday preview: Winerflood in focus at Close Brothers

Close Brothers, the banking, securities and asset management firm, issues a trading update on Friday, and followers of the company will be keen to see whether fortunes have picked up for its Securities division.

During the quarter from 1 August 2011 to 31 October the group continued to see good demand for its lending services and delivered another strong performance, but the Securities division was hit by difficult market conditions, with income per bargain at stockbroker Winterflood substantially lower, reflecting significant volatility and a change in mix driven by lower risk appetite amongst retail investors.

The first three weeks of the new year have seen a torrent of updates from retailers, so tomorrow's UK retail sales data should not contain too many surprises. Consensus is for sales in December to have grown 0.6% after falling 0.4% in November.

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