Monday 9 August
–Hargreaves Lansdown H1 results
In the first four months of the year Hargreaves Lansdown brought in £4.6bn of net new business, driven by existing clients using their tax allowances during Isa season and putting extra cash savings, built up during the lockdown period, to work in funds and shares.
The platform group continued to benefit from a spike in trading activity as DIY investors looked to take advantage of the vaccine-led stock market recovery, with revenues hitting £232m. However, the firm warned share dealing volumes were likely to taper as Covid restrictions ease and life returns to normal.
-H1 results from Clarkson, TI Fluid Systems and PageGroup
-Chinese inflation
China’s consumer price index dipped to 1.1% in June, helped by a drop in pork prices.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould says while central banks are sticking to the view that current price rises are “transitory”, some economists are “less sanguine” amid surging commodity, factory gate and consumer prices and higher wage growth, the traditional harbingers of higher inflation.
“Emerging market central bankers are clearly becoming concerned after recent interest rate rises in Russia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Hungary and the Czech Republic,” he adds.
-US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)
-Quarterly results from Saudi Aramco
-Quarterly results from US miner Barrick Gold
Tuesday 10 August
-H1 results from Intercontinental Hotels, Flutter, Gamesys and IWG
–Abrdn and M&G H1 results
“Abrdn, formerly Standard Life Aberdeen, is on a mission to turn around a business that has been exceptionally unexceptional for some time,” says Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst Nicholas Hyett.
The asset manager, formed from the union of Standard Life Investments and Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017, has struggled to hold onto assets, having racked up net redemptions for 13-consecutive quarters in a row until Q4 2020. In 2020 net outflows were £3.1bn, down from £17.4bn in 2019, but it took a hit to profits as revenues fell 13%.
As well as its rebrand and a changing of the guard, with Stephen Bird stepping up to become CEO last September, the company has set out a new growth strategy to return the business to revenue and earnings growth.
“We’re only in the very early days of the new strategy, and tangible progress next week is likely to be minimal,” Hyett says.
Rival manager M&G has also struggled with redemptions following the re-opening of its Property Portfolio in May. Morningstar estimates around £2.2bn has been pulled from the fund house over the first half of 2021, with its UK property fund accounting for £966m or 43% of the total money exiting.
Despite total assets climbing to £367bn in 2020, it was hit by £7bn worth of outflows, most of which came from its retail asset management business which recorded £12bn in net redemptions.
Weaker flows took its toll on profits which plunged by a third from £1.1bn in 2019 to £788m.
-Trading update from Watches of Switzerland and Bellway
-German ZEW economic activity survey
-US NFIB smaller companies’ sentiment survey
-In Europe, quarterly results from HelloFresh
-In the US, quarterly results from Coinbase
Wednesday 11 August
-H1 results from Quilter, Deliveroo, Spirax-Sarco, Admiral, Prudential, Phoenix, Hill & Smith, 4imprint, Avast and CLS Holdings
-US inflation
America’s June inflation readout of 5.4%, the highest since 2008, has added to fears that inflation could spiral out of control, says Mould. Economists will be particularly interested in the producer price inflation data, he says, and whether it tops last month’s 7.3% year-on-year increase.
-US oil inventory data
-US Federal budget deficit data
-In Japan, quarterly results from Rakuten
-In Europe, quarterly results from Vestas Wind Systems
-In the US, quarterly results from Nio and eBay
Thursday 12 August
–Aviva H1 results
Aviva has come under pressure to address its “dreadful” share price, which is no higher than it was in 1990, with activist Cevian demanding more cost cuts and at least £5bn of cash returns from the life insurer, Mould notes.
Investors will be looking to see whether sales have recovered since they were hit by the pandemic in 2020, if the firm has made any headway on reducing its £1.9bn debt position and an improvement on last year’s 7p interim dividend.
-H1 results from Entain, Cineworld, Just Group
-Trading statements from TUI and Card Factory
-UK construction, manufacturing and industrial output data
-US weekly unemployment claims
-In Asia, quarterly results from Baidu
-In Europe, quarterly results from Orsted and Deutsche Telekom
-In the US, quarterly results from Walt Disney, Airbnb, DoorDash and Palantir
Friday 13 August
-Chinese growth figures for retail sales, tangible fixed asset investment and industrial production
-In the US, quarterly results from Madison Square Garden
