Monday 27 July
–H1 results from estate agent Foxtons
-Deloitte Consumer Tracker data is published
-In Europe Ryanair and Aéroports de Paris, which owns Charles de Gaulle Airport, unveil quarterly results, as well as luxury retailers Moncler and Louis Vuitton parent company LVMH
-Japanese inflation
–German Ifo Business Climate Index
-NXP Semiconductors and Hasbro quarterly results
Tuesday 28 July
-St James’s Place half year results and Q2 business update
The FTSE 100 wealth manager’s last AUM update revealed total assets had bounced back to £112.6bn after falling from £117bn to £101.7bn in Q1 as the coronavirus crisis ramped up.
–Final results from Lysol maker Reckitt Benckiser, Mexican-based miner Fresnillo and bakery chain Greggs
The Share Centre notes Reckitt Benckiser’s share price has powered ahead since mid-March to around £77 a share close to an all-time high as the coronavirus has boosted demand for its disinfectants and health remedies.
“Investors will be keen to see if this surge in demand has been maintained, along with management thoughts for the year ahead,” it said.
-Trading updates from Virgin Money UK and AG Barr
-Flurry of quarterly results in the US includes Visa, Pfizer, McDonalds, Raytheon, 3M, Starbucks, Altria, Mondelez, AMD, eBay and Harley Davidson
– US Case-Shiller house price index
-French retailer Carrefour and auto maker Peugeot release quarterly figures, as does Gucci owner Kering
Wednesday 29 July
-Federal Reserve monetary policy decision
“Chair Jay Powell has already made it clear that the American central bank is in no rush to raise interest rates from their record-low of 0.25%, but he has been equally forthright that he has no desire to take rates into negative territory,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management investment manager and international equity analyst Dan Smith said it is likely the Fed will introduce forward guidance on keeping rates low until certain economic hurdles are cleared and yield curve control to stimulate activity.
“While the effectiveness of either policy is likely to be brought into question given the already low yield environment, the introduction – or talk of potential introduction – at this week’s meeting is likely to be well-received as it will act as a reinforcement of the Fed’s commitment to doing ‘whatever-it-takes’ to getting the economy back on track,” Smith said.
-Bank of England money and credit and effective interest rate releases due out
-Barclays H1 results
AJ Bell’s Mould said the market consensus is for the FTSE 100 bank’s pre-tax profits to halve from the first quarter from £913m to £491m.
Analysts and shareholders will be looking to see how the effects of QE and record-low interest rates have weighed on net interest margin across the loan book, if it has added to the £2.1bn set aside for loan losses in Q1 and “whether Barclays’ investment banking arm really can cut the mustard up against the American megabanks,” Mould said.
–H1 earnings for GlaxoSmithKline, Taylor Wimpey, Smith & Nephew, Aston Martin Lagonda and Rio Tinto
-Next trading update
The Share Centre notes the fast fashion brand had been doing well up until Covid hit. Since then it has delivered “disappointing” first quarter sales, the stockbroker noted, and warned that full year sales are likely to be 30% lower in a best-case scenario.
“Many will expect to see continued growth in online sales but the focus is likely to be more on the performance of the high street shops since they reopened, as the company warned in April that sales would be subdued initially,” the Share Centre said.
-UK mortgage approvals data
-US companies reporting include Facebook, Boeing, General Electric, Spotify and Beyond Meat
-Quarterly earnings from Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank
Thursday 30 July
-First-half results from BAE Systems, AstraZeneca, Anglo American, Lloyds and Standard Chartered
-EU unemployment figures
-US weekly unemployment claims
-Royal Dutch Shell H1 results
This will be the oil major’s first update since it stunned the market by cutting its dividend for the first time in eight decades and as such Mould says shareholders will be looking to see if the $0.16 payment offered in Q1 is “the new normal”.
“The analysts’ consensus forecast of $0.66 a share for the full year in 2020 implies a small increase in the second half (and the top of the range is $0.95) but if Shell does stick to $0.16 a quarter it will still be the third single-biggest dividend payer in the FTSE 100 at just over £4 billion, trailing only BP and British American Tobacco,” Mould said.
The Share Centre said in the current lower oil price environment it is expecting Shell to give a further assessment of the value of its assets, including possible write-downs as fears over a second wave and slow economic recoveries gather steam.
It also expects further streamlining and asset disposal programmes to help reduce Shell’s $73bn net debt position.
-Gilead Sciences, the maker of Covid drug remdesivir, reports, as well as Alphabet, Comcast, Procter & Gambler and Kraft-Heinz
– In Asia, quarterly results from Budweiser Asia Pacific Brewing and Samsung Electronics
-Nestle, L’Oreal, Hermes, Volkswagen and Credit Suisse among the European listed businesses to report
Friday 31 July
-Deadline for potential suppliers to register their interest for the Money and Pensions service’s Pension Dashboard Programme, which will enable individuals to view all their pensions on their chosen dashboard
–Last day before British pensioners over 75 will have to front up £157.50 for a tv license unless they receive a pension credit benefit
-International Consolidated Airlines, which has seen 70% wiped off its share price this year, releases a trading update, along with miner Glencore which has lost a quarter of its value
-H1 results for RBS, BT, London Stock Exchange and British American Tobacco
– HMRC releases flexible payments from pensions stats for Q2 2020
-EU inflation data
-BNP Paribas, Nokia, Fiat Chrysler and Swatch report quarterly results in Europe
-Chinese PMI surveys
While recent economic data has shown China on the road to recovery from the coronavirus slowdown Smith notes that domestically focused, non-manufacturing firms have seen a sharper pick-up in activity than global-orientated manufacturing outfits.
“The recent easing of lockdown restrictions could provide a boost to manufacturers’ confidence this month and imply a more balanced recovery ahead,” he said.
-Quarterly results from Takeda Pharmaceutical, Toyota and Japan Tobacco
-US oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron publish quarterly figures, as well as jeweller Tiffany, Pinterest, Colgate-Palmolive, pharma firm Merck and construction equipment provider Caterpillar
