Monday 30 May
- – In the US, quarterly results from Weibo
Tuesday 31 May
– Full-year results from Pennon
Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst Laura Hoy said: “Debt will be in focus as Pennon spells out its full year progress. The group stretched its balance sheet to acquire Bristol Water. In normal times this may not be more than a bugbear but, given that some 26% of Pennon’s debt is index-linked, it’s something to keep a close eye on.
“For every 1% inflation rises, Pennon’s on the hook for an extra £8m in finance costs. That’s likely to have been adding up this year considering inflation’s risen 7.8% at last check. It will be interesting to hear how management intends to keep these ballooning costs under control.”
- – Japanese unemployment
- – Chinese purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) for manufacturing and services industries
- – EU inflation
- – US Case-Shiller house price index
- – In the US, quarterly results from Salesforce.com and HP
Wednesday 1 June
- – Full-year results from Dr. Martens
- – UK mortgages
“UK mortgage approvals dropped by 15% year-on-year in March to 70.7 million. That was the eighth straight year-on-year decline and left volumes back at November 2013 levels,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould and financial analyst Danni Hewson.
“The combination of record-high house prices (the Halifax House Price index average of £286,079 represents nine times the average UK wage of £31,980, including bonuses, according to pay data from the ONS), rising interest rates and the toll that inflation is taking on consumer spending power and confidence could be responsible.
“According to consultants GfK, UK consumer confidence languishes at a 40-year low, and the Major Purchase index is back near where it was when the pandemic was at its height.”
- – Purchasing managers’ indices for manufacturing industries in Asia, Europe, UK and the USA
- – OPEC+ meeting
- – US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (Jolts)
- – Latest Federal Reserve ‘Beige Book’
- – Interest rate decision from the Bank of Canada
- – In the UK, FTSE quarterly review
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at HL, said: “The latest quarterly review comes amid an evaporation of investor confidence as worries ratchet up about the impact of soaring inflation and rising interest rates on growth at a time when the global economy is still adjusting to changes brought about by the pandemic.
“A change from lockdown behaviour with e-commerce sales falling and streaming services struggling is partly behind the arrival of Royal Mail and ITV in the FTSE 100 drop zone. Centrica’s fortunes have lifted along with higher energy prices, as it’s managed to deftly navigate volatile costs while investors are giving Johnson Matthey the benefit of the doubt even though it hasn’t as yet carved out its future in the electric world.
“In the FTSE 250 there is some evidence that the appetite for responsible investing remains resilient with JLEN Environmental Assets Group and Foresight Solar Fund set to enter the FTSE 250, while PureTech Health and Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust appear to be among the casualties of the flight away from risky assets.”
- – US durable goods orders
- – In the US, quarterly results from Nio, HPE and Chewy
Thursday 2 June
- – UK bank holiday – Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee
- – US Challenger, Gray and Christmas job losses survey
- – US ADP payrolls survey
- – US oil inventory data
- – US Q1 GDP growth (second estimate)
- – US weekly unemployment claims
AJ Bell’s Mould and Hewson said: “Financial markets and central bankers alike remain trapped between the Scylla of inflation on one side, and the Charybdis of rising interest rates and an economic slowdown on the other.
“If policy makers do nothing, inflation may continue to erode consumers’ and corporates’ ability and willingness to spend as real-terms incomes and profit margins come under pressure. If rates go too far too fast, the global economy could tip into recession, threatening jobs and also companies’ ability to generate the cash they need to pay bills and service their interest charges in particular.
“The latest insights on the world’s biggest economy, the USA, will come in the form of consumer confidence figures on Tuesday 31 May, car sales on Wednesday 1 June and the latest job and wage growth numbers on Friday 3 June.
“The last Conference Board consumer confidence reading, which covered April, was 107.3. That represented a very small dip from March, but it was also a 10-point drop from the year before and way below the pre-pandemic high of 137.9, reached in October 2018.
“Economists, central bankers and politicians will be looking to see if inflation, and especially higher food and fuel prices, are starting to take their toll, especially as consumer spending drives around 70% of US GDP,” the pair added.
- – In Europe, quarterly results from Remy Cointreau
- – In the US, quarterly results from Broadcom, Lululemon, Hormel Foods and Ciena
Friday 3 June
- – UK bank holiday – Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee
- – Purchasing managers’ indices for manufacturing industries in Asia, Europe and the USA
- – In Europe, quarterly results from Laurent Perrier
