Monday 25 November
– Polar Capital interim results
– Belgian Courbe Synthetique business confidence indicator
Tuesday 26 November
– Caledonia Investments interim results
– Compass Group full-year results
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said the FTSE 100 contract foodservice company raised its guidance at the half-year stage, thanks to good progress in the US. “The third-quarter statement in July was encouraging too as Compass stated that organic growth for the full-year was expected to come in toward the top end of the company’s targeted range of 4% to 6%,” he added.
Mould said analysts will be looking at the growth rate across North America, Europe and the rest of the world, as well as pre-tax profit and the dividend. “Compass is one of just 26 current FTSE 100 members to have increased its annual distribution every year for the last decade and its streak of increases dates back all the way to 2001,” he said.
– US consumer confidence
Mould noted the last reading was 125.9, which is way above the 20-year average of 92 and not a million miles away from last October’s 20-year high of 137.9.
“That suggests that US consumer confidence is high, which is a good thing when you consider that consumer spending and related services generate more than two-thirds of US GDP – and if America’s economy is strong, that help to lift all boats on the same tide, as the US is the biggest economy in the world.”
– UK high street lending data
Wednesday 27 November
– Brewin Dolphin final results
– British American Tobacco trading statement
Mould said Shareholders in BAT will be looking for some reassurance after September’s profit warning from Imperial Brands and Altria’s decision to write down the value of its $12.8bn investment in vaping leader Juul by $4.5bn, less than a year after it took its 35% stake.
– LondonMetric Property interim results
– US Beige Book – economic conditions summary
– Chicago purchasing managers index
Mould said the Chicago version of the PMI is of particular interest to economists and stock market strategists because its covers both manufacturing and services.
– Japan retail sales
Canaccord Genuity investment manager Sam Buckingham said Japan has just raised sales tax to 10%, resulting in the biggest jump in retail sales in more than five years last month as consumers ramped up spending ahead of the tax hike kicking in.
“That hike unsurprisingly led to plunging retail sales the following month, where they fell -4.3% year-on-year. Early estimates indicate we could be facing a similar reading, however there is a good chance it won’t be as severe.”
Thursday 28 November
– Nationwide House Price Index
– Virgin Money UK final results
Friday 29 November
– UK mortgage approvals data
– EU inflation figures
Buckingham said: “Headline inflation has been dropping, as the lower oil price has been impacting the reading. In fact, the headline figure has dropped 1.6% since October 2018, with 1.3% of this explained by energy prices. Core CPI, which doesn’t include energy prices, continues to hover around the 1% mark – the forecast for Friday is for a rise from 1.1% to 1.3% year-on-year.”
