Monday 2 August
-H1 results from XP Power and Senior
-HSBC H1 results
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould says: “In many ways, HSBC remains the meat in the sandwich between China and Western politicians and regulators, who are taking a colder, harder line on Beijing’s policies, something which could yet make life hard for chairman Mark Tucker, CEO Noel Quinn and their team, as they cannot really afford to annoy the authorities in their most profitable Asian markets.”
While concerns over the the Delta variant’s impact on corporate and consumer confidence, a drop in bond yields and easing of inflation fears have done no favours for the bank’s share price, Mould notes analysts have grown more positive on HSBC. Pre-tax profits are expected to reach $14.9bn in 2021, up from $8.8bn in 2020.
In Q1 the high street bank wrote back $435m of loan impairments but its loan book was flat year-on-year at $1.04trn, while deposits were up 15% at $1.65trn, suggesting customers were still risk averse, Mould adds. ” It would be a good sign if loans were to start growing and deposits dropping.”
Investors will also be keen to see if HSBC resumes its interim dividend, following the Bank of England’s decision to remove restrictions on payouts earlier this month.
-Manufacturing purchasing managers’ indices from Asia, Europe, the UK and USA
-In Europe, quarterly results from Heineken and Ferrari
-US companies Illumina, NXP Semiconductors and Beyond Meat publish quarterly results
Tuesday 3 August
-H1 results from BP, Standard Chartered, Fresnillo, Weir, Travis Perkins, Direct Line, IWG, Rotork, Greggs and Domino’s Pizza
-Interest rate decision from the Reserve Bank of Australia
-UK construction industry purchasing managers’ index
-US car sales
-In Japan, quarterly results from Sony
-In Europe, quarterly results from BMW, Infineon and Stellantis
-In the US, quarterly results from Raytheon, Mondelez and Royal Caribbean
Wednesday 4 August
-Taylor Wimpey H1 results
Taylor Wimpey said it was on track to meet its full year guidance in an upbeat trading statement in April, with chief executive Pete Redfern flagging a higher reservation rate and lower cancellation rate compared to a year ago and an order book of £2.8bn.
Mould points out the housebuilder has suggested it will complete between 85% and 90% of 2019’s volumes, which implies around 14,000 dwellings compared to 9,799 last year. In H1 2020 the firm completed just 2,771 homes.
“Management’s comments on demand will set the stage for the second half, and we’d like to see a strong sales rate and a healthy forward order book to support this,” says Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst William Ryder.
Ryder says analysts will also be looking for a steer on house prices. “Halifax reported a small month-on-month fall in June despite a large rise year-on-year, and we’ll be interested to see whether this matches Taylor’s experience,” he says.
-H1 results from Legal & General and Ibstock
Legal & General’s funds business did a decent job weathering the Covid uncertainty in 2020, with assets under management jumping 7% to £1.3trn. While its Solutions business and multi-asset and active funds brought in healthy flows, its index funds were hit by £6.8bn worth of redemptions. In June Legal & General Investment Management announced it was breaking into the wealth market with a 6bps model portfolio range.
-Services industries’ purchasing managers’ indices from Asia, Europe, the UK and USA
-ADP US jobs survey
-US oil inventory data
-In Japan, quarterly results from silicon chip maker Renasas
-In Asia, quarterly results from Prada
-In Europe, quarterly results from Wolters Kluwer, Accor and Commerzbank
-In the US, quarterly results from Tesla, Shopify, Spotify, General Motors, LAM Research, AMC Entertainment and AIG
Thursday 5 August
-First-half results from Rolls-Royce, Mondi, WPP, Meggitt, Spirent, Hammerson, Serco, Glencore and ConvaTec
-First-quarter results from BT
-Bank of England interest rate decision
-US Challenger, Gray and Christmas job cuts survey
-US weekly unemployment claims
-In Japan, quarterly results from Nintendo
-In Europe, quarterly results from Novo Nordisk, Altice, Siemens, Bayer, Adidas, Pirelli and Beiersdorf
-In the US, quarterly results from Kraft Heinz, Yum! Brands, ConocoPhillips and Activision Blizzard
Friday 6 August
-First-half results from London Stock Exchange, Hikma Pharmaceuticals and ContourGlobal
-US non-farm payrolls, wage growth and unemployment rate
June’s payroll figures were better than expected with 850,000 jobs added to the US economy and unemployment at 5.9%, compared to 11.2% a year ago, indicating the Covid recovery was well underway. Average hourly earnings also ticked up to $30.40, 3.6% higher than a year ago.
“If wage growth becomes entrenched, then inflation could become more firmly established and confirm some economists’ fears that it is about to make a return after 40 years of lying largely dormant,” says Mould.
-In Asia, quarterly results from casino operator Sands China
-In Europe, quarterly results from container shipping giant AP Møller-Maersk
