Thursday preview: Foreign trade, Dr.Martens in focus

The market spotlight on Thursday will be on foreign trade and the possibility of fresh tensions.

Two days before, top US officials had said that the White House would be sending out more letters to some trading partners informing them of the tariffs they would face come 1 August - if they did not strike a trade deal with Washington before.

Also with potential implications for market sentiment, at 1700 BST the US Treasury is scheduled to auction 30-year debt.

Furthermore, at least three top Fed officials are due to deliver speeches over the course of the afternoon.

No major economic reports are due out in the UK.

In the euro area, at 0600 BST investors will be watching out for a reading on German CPI, followed by Italian industrial production data at 0800 BST.

In the company space, Dr. Martens will report its first quarter results.

At the time of its full-year numbers, a month before, the footwear maker had delivered upbeat guidance with little impact expected from US tariffs as its stock was already Stateside.

The stronger pound might drag on revenues and profits but full-year guidance for profit before tax was kept at £54-£74m, management said at the time.

But as City analyst Michael Hewson noted: "Was the early year optimism justified and will guidance need to be tweaked?"

Thursday 10 July

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Heavitree Brewery, Heavitree Brewery 'A' Shares, Kitwave Group, Schroder UK Mid Cap Fund, The Character Group, Unicorn AIM VCT , WH Smith

QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE

GSK

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE

BlackRock Latin American Inv Trust, JPMorgan Asia Growth & Income, Middlefield Canadian Income PCC

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

Continuing Claims (US) (13:30)

Initial Jobless Claims (US) (13:30)

FINALS

Trifast

SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Bytes Technology Group

AGMS

Boston International Holdings, BT Group, DCC (CDI), Dr. Martens , Dr. Martens , Invinity Energy Systems , Land Securities Group, Pets at Home Group , Powerhouse Energy Group, Severn Trent, Strix Group , Value and Indexed Property Income Trust

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Severn Trent, Vistry Group

UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

RICS Housing Market Survey (00:01)

FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE

Mears Group, S4 Capital, Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE

Anpario, Bytes Technology Group , Caffyns, CMC Markets, Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited NPV, Halma, Marks Electrical Group, Mountview Estates, Oberon AIM VCT, Oxford Instruments, Sanderson Design Group, The Global Smaller Companies Trust