Economics

Housing market The monthly housing survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, an indicator of the mood of the market, is forecast to show a deeper fall in house prices in figures due out on Thursday. The headline house price balance is expected to be minus 28.5 in November, from minus 22.2 in October.

House prices Figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government, due out today, are expected to show that house price inflation at the completion stage was 10.8 per cent in October, unchanged from September.

Producer prices data are due out today from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Output price inflation is expected to be 4.2 per cent in November, from 3.8 per cent in October, with input prices rising by an estimated 1.4 per cent over the month. Core output prices are tipped to rise by 2.4 per cent year-on-year, compared with 2.3 per cent in September.

Trade data will be produced tomorrow by the ONS. Britain’s goods trade deficit is tipped to be £7.4 billion in October, compared with £7.8 billion in September. The overall trade gap is expected to be £4.6 billion.

Earnings and employment data will be released on Wednesday by the ONS and are expected to show earnings’ growth of 4.2 per cent in October, compared with 4.1 per cent in September. November’s claimant count is expected to be 5,000 lower than October’s, implying an unchanged unemployment rate of 2.6 per cent.

Industrial output The CBI’s monthly industrial trends survey for December, due on Thursday, is expected to show output weakening to a balance of plus 5, compared with plus 8 in November.

German economy Germany’s ZEW index of economic sentiment, due out tomorrow, is expected to show a reading of minus 35 in December, compared with minus 32.5 in November.

Eurozone consumer prices data will be released on Friday. Inflation on the consumer price index is expected to be confirmed at 3 per cent in November, in line with an initial estimate.

US interest rates The US Federal Open Markets Committee will announce the result of its rate-setting meeting tomorrow. Analysts believe it will cut interest rates by a quarter-point to 4.25 per cent, a full percentage point lower than their level in August.

US consumer prices The US consumer price index for November, due out on Friday, is expected to rise to 4.1 per cent, compared with 3.5 per cent in October. Core prices are tipped to rise to 2.3 per cent, from 2.2 per cent.

Banking & finance

Lloyds TSB is expected to confirm that it has only a moderate exposure to the credit crunch that has weighed on Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, its rivals, when it issues a trading update today.

Northern Rock Representatives of Olivant, one of the consortiums bidding for Northern Rock, will meet executives of the bank this week as the Rock weighs up competing bids.

Bond issuance slumped around the world this summer and the use of derivatives to hedge risk soared as world markets took fright at the credit squeeze, according to the Bank of International Settlements.

AIG A judge in New York will announce tomorrow whether the hearing over Hank Greenberg’s 13 per cent controlling stake in AIG should be brought forward. AIG has challenged whether its former chief executive has the right to control $20 billion worth of shares and force a buyout of the company.

Abbey National plans to open 300 new branches by 2012, bringing its total to 1,000. Abbey, which is owned by the Spanish bank Santander, confirmed last night that it expects to begin opening new branches in 2009.

Citigroup is expected to appoint its new chief executive this week, with Vikram Pandit, its head of investment banking, the favourite to lead the world’s biggest bank.

UBS, the Swiss financial services group, may announce a writedown of up to SwFr10 billion (£4.36 billion) related to the US credit market crisis accompanied by a fresh profit warning today, according to SonntagsZeitung, the Swiss newspaper. UBS is holding an investors’ day in London tomorrow.

Construction & property

Barratt Developments is set to fall out of the FTSE 100 this week as part of the index’s biggest reshuffle for several years. Sentiment towards housebuilders has been hit by falling house prices and Barratt’s shares have lost half their value in the past three months.

Consumer goods

Cadbury Schweppes, the confectionery and soft drinks group, will give a trading update tomorrow. Separately, the company is poised to find a buyer for Monkhill, which makes Butterkist, Britain’s biggest-selling popcorn brand. Sources suggest that Monkhill is likely to fetch more than £60 million. (The Sunday Times)

Engineering

Domino Printing Sciences, the Cambridge company which makes industrial printing equipment, will report its full-year results tomorrow. ABN Amro is forecasting revenue of £231 million, up by 11 per cent on the £208 million reported last year.

Renault, the French carmaker, has bought a 25 per cent stake in Avtovaz, the producer of the Lada marque and Russia’s largest carmaker, in a deal that is apparently worth $1.25 billion (£600 million).

Health

Bayer, the German pharmaceuticals group, said that its Xarelto drug had been shown to be more effective at preventing deep vein thrombosis than the standard treatment for patients undergoing total hip replacement surgery. It added that Xarelto is the company’s most promising drug.

Industrials

Treatt, the supplier of flavour and fragrance products, is set to report its full-year results today. At the time of its interim results in May, it had cautioned that it was too early to be certain that full-year profits would meet market expectations.

Leisure

Betfred, Britain’s biggest independent bookmaker, said that it had shelved its plans for a £600 million flotation becase of the turbulent market conditions. (The Mail on Sunday)

Media

Emap shareholders may try to scupper the sale of the media group’s radio and magazine divisions after its auction of assets fell short of expectations. (The Sunday Times)

ITV Michael Grade, executive chairman of ITV, the commercial broadcaster, is set to receive a bonus of three quarters of his salary, even though investors in the company have seen the value of their shares plunge by a fifth since he was appointed. (The Mail on Sunday)

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, is trying to buy Virgin Media’s share of UKTV, the television channel business which is jointly owned by the two organisations. (The Sunday Telegraph)

Natural resources

BHP Billiton, the Anglo-Australian mining company, has been advised that it will be extremely difficult to launch a hostile takeover bid for Rio Tinto, its rival, because of a “poison pill” in Rio’s constitution. (The Sunday Telegraph)

Rio Tinto faced a possible new bidder when it emerged that Blackstone, the American private equity firm, may be planning a move to break up the group. Blackstone may be proposing to sell the Australian mining group’s core iron ore business, which it values at $110 billion (£54 billion).

Sinopec signed a $2 billion (£980 million) contract to develop an Iranian oilfield yesterday. The Iranian Oil Ministry and the Iranian-Chinese company sealed the deal to pump oil from the Yadavaran onshore field in southwestern Iran, which was first agreed in late 2004, at a ceremony in Tehran.

Retailing

Carpetright, the floor coverings specialist, will report its half-year results tomorrow. Analysts at Panmure Gordon, the stockbroker, said that the 1250p-a-share proposal from Lord Harris, the company’s founder and chairman, appeared “increasingly generous” given the extent of the sector’s downturn in the past six months.

Tesco, the supermarket group, predicted that its Fresh & Easy chain in America could enable it to become the “fastest-growing retailer in the world”. (The Observer)

Woolworths, the struggling high street retailer, is under pressure to renegotiate its debt mountain as it goes into the make-or-break Christmas trading period. (The Sunday Telegraph)

Moss Bros Baugur, the Icelandic investor, is expected to approach Moss Bros as early as this week with a takeover bid that could value the menswear chain at up to £40 million. Baugur already owns 28.5 per cent of Moss Bros through Unity Investments, a subsidiary.

Support services

Scott Wilson, the civil engineering and environmental services consultancy, is expected to announce a 32 per cent rise in profits and an upbeat outlook when it reports its interim results on Wednesday. Arbuthnot Securities, the broker, is forecasting pre-tax profits of £10.6 million, compared with £8 million last time.

Baqus Group, the firm of quantity surveyors, is planning an £11 million flotation on the Alternative Investment Market and will today announce a cash raising of £2 million as part of the float.

Technology

Photo Face, the British project to develop security cameras that can see through veils and disguises, is in a joint venture with General Office, the US defence group, and the Home Office to manufacture the cameras in the UK within three years. (The Mail on Sunday)

Telecoms

Vodafone, the mobile phone group, said that Vodafone Essar, its Indian subsidiary, had signed a joint venture in India with Bharti Infratel and Idea Cellular to create a mobile phone mast sharing business.

Transport

MaxJet, the business class airline, is in emergency talks with Panmure Gordon, its financial adviser, to try to raise more cash to keep the loss-making company flying. The AIM-listed group had its shares suspended on Friday. (The Mail on Sunday)

Chiltern Railways Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national rail company, and NedRail, its Dutch equivalent, have become the sole remaining bidders for Chiltern Railways, which runs services out of London’s Marylebone Station. (The Sunday Times)

Sea Containers the transport group, has cleared a hurdle in its plan to emerge from bankruptcy after winning a battle against GE over the future of GESeaCo, the leading shipping container leasing business. (The Sunday Times)

Utilities

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, will give a trading update on Friday, raising speculation about possible new year price increases after a rise in wholesale gas costs.

Share tips

The Sunday Telegraph: buy Marks & Spencer (retailing), Morgan Crucible (industrials), Sepura (technology), Connaught (construction & property); sell Woolworths (retailing); hold HMV (retailing)

The Mail on Sunday: buy ITE Group (support services) Oxford Instruments (technology)

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