** Shares in mid-size investment bank Jefferies Financial Group JEF.N down ~2.5% on Wednesday underperforming broader banking sector with S&P 400 financial services index .SPMDCDF off 1%, ahead of JEF's quarterly report due out after market close

** Wall Street consensus has JEF reporting adj EPS of $0.94 vs $0.69 in the year-ago quarter on rev of $1.86 bln, which would be up ~7% from $1.74 bln year-ago although lower than Q4 rev of $1.96 bln, according to latest data from LSEG

** In last 8 quarters JEF's revenue and EPS beat the Street just 4 times

** JEF, which provides trading as well as deal making services, can provide early clues on how results will look at bigger investment banks, which kick off their reporting season in mid-April.

** Analysts and recruiters are watching out for any job cuts at banks as uncertainty about the outlook for the economy could weigh on whether or not clients are confident enough to make deals in the months ahead

** Shares in JEF down ~23% YTD after it rose 94% in 2024, compared with 2.7% drop YTD for S&P 400 financial services index .SPMDCDF after a 26.7% gain in 2024

(Reporting By Sinéad Carew)

((sinead.carew@thomsonreuters.com; +13322191897;))