Thursday preview: UK GDP, Tesco results in focus

(Sharecast News) - The highlights on Thursday's docket will be the latest UK GDP reading and results from UK supermarket chain Tesco and US streaming giant Netflix. Also on the UK corporate calendar, trading updates are due from Dunelm, Rentokil, Entain, Ashmore and Hays.

As far as Tesco is concerned, Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the retailer was heading into results with good momentum, following an uptick in demand since the Christmas period.

"Easy comparable figures and continued market share gains throughout the year should help flatter performance. As a result, the nation's largest supermarket is forecast to deliver like-for-like sales growth of over 3%," he said.

"Full-year underlying operating profit guidance was nudged to the top end of its £2.9-£3.1bn target range back in January. But given Tesco's enormous scale, broad product offerings, and cost discipline, this figure still looks a touch conservative. Looking further ahead, investors are keen to hear how the conflict in Iran is expected to impact the group's costs and whether there's been any change in recent customer spending habits."

On the macro front, the UK GDP reading for February is due in the morning.

XTB research director Kathleen Brooks said the market expects growth to pick up a notch in February.

"Expectations are for a 0.1% rate of growth, up from zero growth in January," she said. "This data feels very old at this stage, due to the events in the Middle East, however, this latest GDP report could show how much the UK's economy was struggling before the conflict began.

"If the data is weaker than expected, it may also suggest that the economy flirted with recession before the war had even started. That would leave the economic outlook even gloomier now that the country has to face an energy price shock, which may disrupt activity in the coming weeks."

Overall, she said, the figures are unlikely to paint a reassuring picture about the UK economy, and a weaker-than-expected reading could add upside pressure to UK bond yields, as it might suggest lower future tax take at the same time as the UK faces a stricken fiscal outlook.