Monday 23 March
-Nationwide UK house price index
Tuesday 24 March
-Treasury committee hears about the economic impact of coronavirus
Stephen Barclay MP, chief secretary to the Treasury, will present to MPs today (9.15am), followed on Wednesday CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn and Trades Union Congress head of rights Kate Bell (2pm).
-AG Barr and Fevertree full-year results
In July, the Smithson Investment Trust became the latest small-cap manager to buy Fevertree after its share price fell 47% from its 2018 peak. Last month, Nick Train followed, adding the UK drinks business to his Finsbury Growth & Income business.
Train also owns AG Barr, another UK drinks maker, best known for Irn-Bru. In his 2019 review, the UK equities manager described the company’s 25% share price falls as a “shocker” but said it was partially a reaction to “several years of wonderful gains”.
Wednesday 25 March
-UK inflation figures
-DWP’s response to the coronavirus outbreak
The Work and Pensions committee will hear from Peter Schofield, permanent secretary, Department for Work and Pensions (9.15am)
-US durable goods orders
Thursday 26 March
-Bank of England monetary policy committee meeting
The Bank of England has already launched a number of policy initiatives in response to coronavirus, including two cuts leading to interest rates of just 0.1%, £200bn of quantitative easing and a lending scheme for smaller businesses.
But AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said the nagging question remains whether this was the right response. “It may have worked (temporarily) in dealing with the financial crisis, which was a credit and liquidity event and needed a monetary solution, but this is a viral event that is leading to a collapse in demand and also production,” Mould says. “Debt forbearance seems like a better option, at least from a consumers’ and corporates’ perspective.”
