Friday preview: Bernanke, bwin.party, Marshalls

The big event on Friday is set to be the speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at the central banker's economic symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The market has been in a state of virtual paralysis this week ahead of the statement and there is a danger that, unless Bernanke breaks with previous form and announces concrete policy decisions, there will be a sense of anti-climax.

"We do not expect the chairman to give a strong signal on the outcome of the September meeting, which may disappoint the market and would likely be USD [US dollar] positive," Barclays Capital said.

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He will give his speech, titled Monetary Policy Since the Crisis on Friday at 15:00 London time.

On the UK macro side, the GfK consumer confidence survey for August is due out and the consensus forecast is for a reading of -27. Barclays Capital is below consensus with its forecast of -31, "as we think consumers will have become slightly more pessimistic owing to the confirmation of the continued recession in Q2 [second quarter] as well as higher petrol prices. We do not expect any 'feel-good' boost from the London Olympics, but there are upside risks from this source."

On the company results side, online gaming titan bwin.party caps a busy week for announcements for companies in this sector. Peel Hunt is forecasting clean earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of around €89m, versus €81.9m in the first half of last year.

"The combination of the uncertain regulatory environment in Germany, a weak poker market and rising taxation has led to a stream of downgrades. This has been exacerbated by the need to focus on the integration of the two businesses," Peel Hunt said.

Landscaping products purveyor Marshalls issued a profits warning, blaming the miserable weather in the second quarter of the year for sluggish sales.

"Look out for a brighter view on H212 [second half of 2012] as some of the work was delayed not cancelled and the Belgian operation continues to grow revenues," suggests Northland Capital Markets. "Given the cautious tone of the July trading update, the results are expected to be weak," the broker added.

"A high dividend pay-out ratio may be maintained helped by the cash characteristics of the group's vertically integrated operations but this now looks less certain," Northland suggests.

INTERIMS

Bwin.party Digital Entertainment, Charles Taylor, Chesnara, Computacenter, EMIS Group, Exillon Energy, Goldenport Holdings Inc., Headlam, IFG Group, Independent News & Media, Lavendon Group, Marshalls, Molins, Restaurant Group, Vimetco NV GDR (Reg S)

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Brunner Inv Trust, Foresight 2 VCT Planned Exit Shares, Foresight VCT Planned Exit Shares, Maven Income & Growth 3 VCT, Maven Income and Growth VCT 5, Mecom Group, Nichols, Reed Elsevier

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

City of London Inv Trust

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Chicago PMI (US) (13:45)

GFK Consumer Confidence (GER) (07:00)

International Reserves (EU) (11:00)

Retail Sales (GER) (07:00)

U. of Michigan Confidence (Final) (US) (15:00)

Unemployment Rate (EU) (10:00)

Q2

Frontline Ltd.

GMS

CareCapital Group

AGMS

Jubilant Energy, Victoria, Worldlink Group

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

GFK Consumer Confidence (01:00)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Atkins (WS), Atlantis Japan Growth Fund Ltd., JPMorgan Euro Small Co. Trust, ProVen Growth & Income VCT, Solid State

JH