What's in store today...

BT Group (BT.A) is the blue-chip company to look out for when it reports its third-quarter results on Friday.

Shares in the company have risen more than 15% over the past year, and operating performance is expected to be at least in line with market expectations.

However, Nick Lyall, analyst at UBS, downgraded the broker's rating for the telecoms firm to 'neutral', saying that the company faced "more questions in 2012". In particular, Lyall pointed out fears over the firm's pension deficit and the UK fixed-line business for 2012.

Electrocomponents (ECM) will also issue its interim management statement on Friday.

At its first-half results in November, the company posted group revenues up 11%, with gross margins remaining "stable". The dividend per share was held at 5p, representing a 5.8% dividend yield, covered 1.6 times by earnings and 1.1 times by free cash flow.

However, Andy Brown, analyst at Panmure Gordon, maintained a 'neural' stance on the stock after the first-half results were published. "While [Electrocomponents] has not seen the same cautious issues as others in the sector, the economic backdrop remains uncertain, with further cautious global PMI data likely," he warned investors.

Shares in the company have gained over a quarter of their value over the past month.

Investec (INVP) will also grace the market with its interim management statement.

On the economic front, the service sector purchasing managers' survey for January will be published. The index spiked to a five-month high of 54.0 in December.

"Not only is this well away from recessionary territory, but it represents a seven-month high and close to the long-term average of the survey. Is this telling a realistic story? We are doubtful," scoffed Philip Shaw, economist at Investec. He forecast the index to rise to 54.3.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at HIS Global Insight, was more pessimistic. He estimated that the index will have retreated to 52.7 in January.

While he noted that the performance of the service sector was "absolutely critical" to hopes that the UK economy can return to growth in the first quarter of 2012, he pointed out that there were indications that activity in professional, business and financial services was being limited by difficult conditions in the private sector as well as by the cutbacks in government spending.

"Meanwhile, consumer-facing services companies are being hit by the serious squeeze on consumers' purchasing power and their need/desire to limit their discretionary spending," he added.

Recent Office for National Statistics figures pointed to services activity remaining flat over the fourth quarter as GDP contracted by 0.2%. More significantly, the Bank of England's regional agents reported in their January summary of business conditions that "the growth rate of turnover in business services continued to ease, due to slowing demand growth and downward pressure on price inflation, particularly among professional and financial services".

Friday 3 February

Trading update

BT, Electrocomponents, International Airlines Group

AGM/EGM/Special Meeting

Coburg