Straight to your inbox – the perfect way to start the week! The Monday Morning Briefing keeps you in touch with scheduled releases in the financial markets for the coming week.
The briefing includes a comprehensive listing of all the expected UK results, plus highlights from the US reporting week and the global economic calendar. We also provide brief commentaries on the past week and the week ahead. Register (below right) to receive the email briefing every Monday. You can also read the latest issue below.
For the week commencing 30/08/10
AUG30
UK Results Summer Bank Holiday
Selected US No major announcements scheduled
Economic Indicators US: August Dallas Fed manufacturing survey (1530 BST); EU: August final eurozone consumer confidence (1000 BST); Spain: August preliminary CPI (0800 BST)
AUG31
UK Results 6M: 888 Holdings, Afren, Bunzl, Hansteen Holdings, PuriCore
Selected US No major announcements scheduled
Economic Indicators UK: July consumer credit (0930 BST), July final M4/M4 lending (0930 BST), July mortgage lending (0930 BST); US: August consumer confidence (1500 BST); EU: August eurozone CPI (1000 BST), July eurozone unemployment (1000 BST); Germany: August unemployment (0855 BST); Italy: June retail sales (0900 BST), August preliminary CPI (1000 BST), July unemployment rate (1100 BST); Japan: August manufacturing PMI (0015 BST), July preliminary industrial production (0050 BST), July housing starts (0600 BST)
SEP01
UK Results FY: Hargreaves Lansdown; 6M: IQE, Johnson Service Group
Selected US Q1: Brown-Forman Corp, HJ Heinz Co; Q2: SAIC
Economic Indicators UK: August manufacturing PMI (0930 BST); US: August Challenger job-cut report (1230 BST), July construction spending (1500 BST), August ISM manufacturing (1500 BST), W/e 28/08 crude oil inventories (1530 BST); EU: August final PMI manufacturing (0900 BST); France: August final manufacturing PMI (0850 BST); Germany: August final manufacturing PMI (0855 BST); Italy: August manufacturing PMI (0845 BST), August budget balance (1900 BST); Spain: August manufacturing PMI (0815 BST)
SEP02
UK results FY: Eaga, Go-Ahead Group, Hays, Mcbride; 6M: Datacash Group, Restaurant Group
Selected US Q1: H&R Block
Economic Indicators UK: August construction PMI (0930 BST); US: W/e 28/08 initial jobless claims (1330 BST), July factory orders (1500 BST), July pending home sales (1500 BST); EU: Q2 preliminary eurozone GDP (1000 BST), July eurozone PPI (1000 BST); France: Q2 ILO unemployment (0630 BST); Italy: July PPI (0900 BST); Spain: August unemployment (0800 BST)
SEP03
UK results No major announcements scheduled
Selected US No major announcements scheduled
Economic Indicators UK: August services PMI (0930 BST); US: August non-farm payrolls (1330 BST), August unemployment (1330 BST); EU: August final composite PMI (0900 BST), August final services PMI (0900 BST), July eurozone retail sales (1000 BST); France: August final services PMI (0850 BST); Germany: August final services PMI (0855 BST); Italy: August services PMI (0845 BST); Spain: August services PMI (0815 BST), August consumer confidence (0900 BST)
Highlights of the past week
Last week saw the FTSE 100 fall to a seven-week low at Wednesday's close, as weak US data hit Wall Street hard and sent tremors through an increasingly brittle global recovery. A meagre 0.3% increase in durable goods sales on Wednesday countered Monday's positive news from the July Chicago Fed activity index, while on Tuesday US existing homes sales dropped to a ten-year low. Wednesday's US new homes sales data was a further catalyst, as annualised sales for July sank 12.4% to 276,000. Wall Street fell to 9986 points at Thursday's close, back below the psychological 10,000 barrier.
The UK housing market showed a little more spark, but still seemed to be suffering as Tuesday's BBA mortgage approvals fell for a second month. Homebuilder Persimmon reported a ten-fold increase in pre-tax profit of £101.4 million for the first half of the year on Tuesday, while on Monday peer Bovis Homes announced a £3.5 million pre-tax profit over the same period. In a further fillip, UK GDP for the second quarter was increased by 0.1% to 1.2%, beating estimates. Friday afternoon's Q2 GDP data across the Atlantic was also well received after surpassing expectations, despite being revised down from 2.4% to 1.6%.
In a busy week for M&A activity, fertiliser company Potash Corp urged shareholders to reject BHP Billiton’s hostile bid on Monday, while technology sector rivals HP and Dell held a bidding war for data storage company 3Par – a battle which HP looked like winning with a $1.8 billion offer, which investors speculated Dell may not match. It was also a big week for miners, with rising commodities prices prompting positive full-year data from BHP on Wednesday alongside upbeat six-month reports from Antofagasta and Kazakhmys. On Thursday the world's largest spirits manufacturer, Diageo, reported pre-tax profit growth of 12% year-on-year.
Week Ahead
The Federal Reserve's latest minutes on Tuesday will be the focus of attention following the bank holiday weekend at home, while on Thursday the ECB are expected to maintain interest rates at 1% for a sixteenth month. US unemployment data is also prominent with the Challenger job-cut report midweek followed by the key non-farm payrolls on Friday. Other significant figures to look out for include eurozone unemployment and housing market data in the UK and US on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.
In a quiet week for companies keep a look out for annual results from UK public transport provider Go-Ahead Group on Thursday. Across the pond HJ Heinz unveil quarterly numbers on Wednesday.
Please note that this information is for guidance only and no liability is accepted for its accuracy or otherwise.