Monday 30 August
-Nationwide UK house price index
-UK money supply, mortgage approvals and consumer borrowing figures
-In the US, quarterly results from Zoom Video Communications
Tuesday 31 August
–Bunzl H1 results
-Chinese purchasing managers’ indices
-EU inflation figures
-US Case-Shiller house price index
-US Conference Board consumer confidence reading
Wednesday 1 September
-First-half results from 888, Johnson Service and Churchill China
-Manufacturing purchasing managers’ indices from Asia, Europe, the UK and USA
-ADP payrolls survey
-US monthly car sales
-US weekly oil inventories
-In Europe, quarterly results from Pernod Ricard
-In the US, quarterly results from Brown-Forman
Thursday 2 September
-Full-year results from Barratt Developments
Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst Sophie Lund-Yates says Barratt’s post-pandemic trading has already packed a punch. Underlying pre-tax profit for the year is expected to come in at the high end of market expectations at £899m due to a strong recovery in completion volumes which are meant to be about 3.4% lower than before the Covid crisis.
But she says its outlook statement merits attention given the ongoing build cost inflation “running at a rather unhelpful 3-4%” and demand expectations after the end of the stamp duty holiday.
-First-half results from Melrose Industries and Gym Group
-UK construction industry purchasing managers’ index (PMI)
-Challenger, Gray & Christmas job losses survey
-US weekly unemployment claims
–Broadcom, Lululemon, Dollar Tree and Campbell Soup release quarterly earnings in the US
Friday 3 September
-Trading update and AGM from Berkeley
Shareholders face a crucial vote at Berkeley’s AGM on a planned capital return of £509m in the fiscal year to April 2022 via share buybacks and dividends, as well as a B-share scheme. The latter involves the high-end housebuilder issuing shares, then repurchasing and cancelling them to leave owners with a taxable gain rather than dividends that would be taxed as income.
AJ Bell notes Berkeley had already committed to distribute at least £281m a year to shareholders via buybacks and dividends until April 2025, funded by its net cash pile which stood at £1.1bn at the end of April. “This adds to the £2.2bn that Berkeley has already returned since 2012, no mean feat for a firm whose current market cap is £6bn and whose stock market valuation was £1.3bn a decade ago.”
Berkeley will also update on its progress over the first four months of the financial year. It is aiming for a 50% increase in completions between 2019 and 2025 over which time it hopes to generate £500m in pre-tax profit on average on an annual basis.
-Full-year results from Genus and Ashmore
-US non-farm payrolls data
July’s job figures were strong, with an additional 943,000 roles added, which AJ Bell notes was the highest since last August.
“Many firms say they are struggling to fill vacancies, yet the official U3 unemployment rate is 5.4% and the U6 rate is 9.2%, so the picture is a confusing one,” AJ Bell said. “Equally, job growth has accelerated in recent months and some say this may be because American government stimulus checks and employment support have been reduced or cut altogether, prompting many to head back to work.”
If the labour market shows signs of tightening this could lead to wage growth. “In July, the average American hourly wage was $30.54, 4% higher than the year before,” AJ Bell says. “If wages really start to motor, then perhaps inflation is indeed coming our way, after nearly 40 years of lying relatively dormant.”
-Manufacturing purchasing managers’ indices from Asia, Europe, the UK and US
