Friday preview: US GDP in focus ahead of elections

With UK corporate announcements thin on the ground on Friday, US data will be closely watched by the markets, as all eyes turn to how the economic recovery is doing in the lead up to the presidential elections next month.

The big one, the US gross domestic product report, will be released at 13:30 (London time) with the consensus of analysts expecting the economy to expand at an annualised rate of 1.9% in the third quarter, an acceleration from the 1.3% growth in the preceding three months.

Another key indicator for the US economy is the final reading of the University of Michigan consumer confidence index which is also due out tomorrow afternoon. The index is forecast to fall slightly from 83.1 to 83 in October.

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Meanwhile, with US jobless claims coming in better than forecast on Thursday, markets will be hoping that the pivotal October jobs report follows the trend - this is due on November 2nd.

Analysts from Barclays Research have pencilled in a 125,000 rise in headline payrolls for October, a 130,000 increase in private payrolls and an unchanged unemployment rate of 7.8%.

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GDP (Advance) (US) (13:30)

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

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