Monday 17 July
- Trading statements from Netflix, Rio Tinto and DFS Furniture
- Rightmove UK house price index
- Chinese monthly growth figures for retail sales, industrial production and tangible fixed asset investment
- In Europe, quarterly results from Richemont
Tuesday 18 July
- Trading statements from Record and Midwich
- Ocado first-half results
Ocado will announce a trading update for its first-half on Tuesday. The online grocer’s shares are down by four-fifths from their all-time high in 2021 when the pandemic led to a surge in interest in online delivery companies.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould and head of financial analysis Danni Hewson said: “The growth rates generated then have proved hard to sustain and rising interest rates have taken a toll on perceived growth stocks, especially those that offer jam-tomorrow but losses today (and Ocado is not forecast by analysts to make a profit until 2026 at the earliest).
“In addition, concerns over the impact of inflation on customers’ spending patterns continue to linger, as discounters Aldi and Lidl gobble up share in the grocery market.”
See also: Ocado, Boohoo and Moonpig: Short sellers target UK retailers
In the first quarter, Ocado’s retail arm saw revenue rise 3.4% to £583.7m.
Sophie Lund-Yates, Hargreaves Lansdown lead equity analyst, said: “Broadly speaking, the group acknowledged conditions remain challenging because of the economic backdrop.
“There have been complaints from M&S that it’s unhappy with the current set up and that improvements and more favourable M&S product placing are needed – commentary around this will be important to monitor.”
She added: “More important will be details on the Solutions business. Ocado’s valuation has been sorely punished for progress, or lack thereof, in its high-tech grocery picking division.
“While the product and proposition are best-in-class in many respects, the group’s costs and ability to sign deals with partners at the desired pace have left a sour taste in investors’ mouths.
“Ideally next week, Ocado will be able to signal a stabilisation and proof of demand, but there’s no guarantee this will be on the cards given the difficult environment.”
- US retail sales
- US industrial production and capacity utilisation rate
- In Europe, quarterly results from Novartis
- In the US, quarterly results from Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon and Omnicom
Wednesday 19 July
- Full-year results from Victoria
- Trading statements from Antofagasta, Severn Trent and Finsbury Food
- UK inflation figures
On Wednesday, the Office for National Statistics will reveal the latest inflation figure for the UK in May.
While the consumer price index (CPI) has cooled from October’s 11.1%, which looks to be the peak, prices are still accelerating at a rapid speed with inflation currently standing at 8.7%.
AJ Bell’s Mould and Hewson said: “Economists, politicians and central bankers will be praying for deceleration this time around, especially as markets are now pricing in a peak in the Bank of England base rate of 6.5% by February 2024, as the Monetary Policy Committee tries to rein in inflation, having been initially slow to react.”
- EU CPI figures
- US building permits
- US building starts
- US oil inventories
- In Australia, a trading update from BHP
- In Europe, quarterly results from ASML, Atlas Copco, Volvo, Sandvik and SKF
- In the US, quarterly results from Tesla, IBM, US Bancorp, Las Vegas Sands, Baker Hughes, Halliburton, United Airlines and Alcoa
Thursday 20 July
- First-half results from Howden Joinery
- Trading statements from SSE, 3i, Anglo American, QinetiQ, Kier, Dunelm, Diploma and easyJet
- UK Government borrowing figures
- US existing homes sales
- US weekly initial unemployment claims
- In Asia, quarterly results from TSMC
- In Europe, quarterly results from SAP, ABB, Kone, Nokia, Publicis and Volvo Cars
- In the US, quarterly results from Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Philip Morris, CSX, Freeport-McMoRan, Newmont, Seagate and American Airlines
Friday 21 July
- Full-year results from Frasers, Yellow Cake, Fulham Shore and Naked Wines
- First-half results from Moneysupermarket.com
- Trading statement from Glencore
- GfK UK consumer confidence survey
- UK retail sales
- Japanese inflation figures
- In Europe, quarterly results from Lonza and Thales
