A Brief Look At The Week Ahead

When Gordon Brown unveils his Budget on Wednesday, most expect it to be his swansong as Chancellor. Economists expect it to be a largely rosy affair, with Mr Brown reporting strong economic growth above consensus expectations, while debt remains below 40% of GDP, in line with the views he outlined in the pre-Budget report. Rumours that he will launch a new tax on online gambling firms will be much discussed. America's safety watchdog, the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, will this week publish its final report into the fire at BP's Texas refinery two years ago, which killed 15 workers. It is expected to detail the role that budget considerations played in causing the fire. For Wolseley, the seller of plumbing fixtures, the recent wobble in the US housing market has hurt. When it reveals first-half numbers Monday, pre-tax profit is expected to have dropped. Investors will be keen for encouragement from the company but the near-term future in the US, where the setbacks in the housing and subprime mortgage markets seem to be accelerating, looks bleak. Friends Provident's results on Tuesday will be a two part affair. The life and pensions group has already said growth over the year was strong, with new business increasing 31% to 7.07bn compared to the year before. Dragging it down, however, is its fund management subsidiary F&C Asset Management, which has disappointed recently and suffered a major outflow of assets under management. Consensus expectations for Kesa Electricals, owner of the Comet retail chain, are for 168m in annual pre-tax profits, a little better than the 143m in 2005, when it reports on Wednesday. Of particular interest to the City, however, will be chairman David Newlands' outlook for the year ahead, which most analysts reckon will fall short relative to 2006 when the World Cup drove sales of flat-screen televisions. On the retail front, investors are hoping Next will follow up on buoyant expectations when it unveils its annual performance on Thursday. Analysts at UBS and Goldman Sachs recently increased their ratings of the company on expectations of improved same-store sales and the possibility of more share buybacks. Stockbroker Charles Stanley is less sure, saying in a note that they expected the company's same-store sales to worsen. They expect pre-tax profit to come in at 470m, ahead of the 449m the year before. Amongst others in the spotlight this week will be Burren Energy and Trafficmaster on Monday; Helphire on Tuesday; Smiths Group on Wednesday; Premier Oil and Standard Life on Thursday and Johnson Service Group on Friday. Good hunting! Greystone (Greystone is Alan English, City Editor at MoneyAM.)

Morning all. Friday's market reports:

Telegraph
Telegraph (Bloomberg summary)
The Times
FT
The Guardian
The Independent
This is Money

NIKKEI	AUSTRALIA	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

OUTLOOK Wolseley H1 pretax profit seen down 11 pct to 320.2 mln stgAustralian shares close higher on financial sector M&A activity - UPDATEAsian markets summary

Morning all.

OUTLOOK - UK smaller company results for 2 weeks to March 30

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei closed up 265.40 points at 17,009.55, while the Hang
Seng ended the morning ahead 182.37 points at 19,135.87.

New York Mercantile Exchange's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for
delivery in April, was up 19 cents at $57.30 a barrel from $57.11 in late trading in
the US Friday.

Happy trading!

G.

Tokyo shares close higher on bargain-hunting

CNA reiterated buy - target 409 from 405 - Merrill Lynch
HOME upgraded to neutral from overweight - target 445 from 425 - Credit Suisse
MRW downgraded to neutral from outperform - target 330 from 300 - Credit Suisse

GFS buy - target 255 from 235 - ABN Amro

HNS ratings affirmed at 'BBB+', outlook stable - Fitch
PNN upgraded to neutral from underweight - JP Morgan
WG. downgraded to neutral from buy - Merrill Lynch

UK water sector upgraded to neutral - JP Morgan

AFX UK at a glance share guide - weekend

ARI reiterated sell - target 607 from 595 - Goldman Sachs
SN. reiterated equal-weight - Morgan Stanley

Tokyo shares close higher on bargain-hunting - UPDATE

STOCKWATCH William Morrison downgraded to 'hold' from 'buy' at ABN Amro

PFC upgraded to buy from neutral - Merrill Lynch