Monday 6 December
-Full-year results from Victrex
-UK construction industry purchasing managers’ index (PMI)
-German factory orders
Tuesday 7 December
-Full-year results from Paragon Banking
-First-half results from Ashtead
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould and financial analyst Danni Hewson said the rental equipment giant has found itself in a “sweet spot” thanks to the strong rebound in the US and the Biden administration’s expansionary fiscal policy.
The three headline figures analysts will to are Ashtead’s sales, pre-tax profits and the dividend, which all grew strongly in the first quarter. Investors will also be interested in the firm’s capex spend, which is forecast to be between $1.6bn-$1.8bn for the year, and news of further acquisitions, following on from $123m of deals in Q1.
-First-half results from Babcock
-Trading statement from Ferguson and British American Tobacco
-Japanese wage growth
-Monetary policy decision from the Reserve Bank of Australia
-Halifax UK house price index
-German ZEW economic sentiment indicator
Wednesday 8 December
-Full-year results from TUI and SSP
The emergence of the Omicron variant has rattled the travel sector once again, with holidaymaker Tui’s shares down 7% in the past week. Caterer SSP, which relies on travellers picking up snacks from its from its Upper Crust kiosks and Ritazza cafes in train stations and airports, has lost around 13%.
Hargreaves Lansdown senior investment and markets analyst Susannah Streeter said with many holiday plans thrown into disarray once again, the company’s outlook for the coming months looks less bright.
“There is hope from airlines that there will still be a bounce back by the summer, but it seems that the long road to recovery still stretches far into the horizon,” she said. “The slow return of commuters is set to continue for now, which should continue to bolster sales, with working from home orders not yet re-imposed, and hospitality outlets not under the same restrictions yet as shops.’’
-First-half results from Berkeley
Mould and Hewson note that despite management’s ambitious plans for housing completions and Berkeley’s “lofty” operating margins and net cash balance sheet, its shares are 5% lower than a year ago.
The pair said this could be because investors are still concerned about the direction of the UK housing market should interest rates start to rise, the impact on profit margins from the company’s drive to be carbon neutral by 2020, as well as post-Covid demand for metropolitan dwellings in London and the South East, where its business has historically focused.
Berkeley expects to make £500m in pre-tax profits annually from now until 2025 and deliver 5,500 homes per year, making use of its 29 brownfield regeneration sites.
Over the same timeframe it wants to return £280m to shareholders each year via a mix of dividends and share buybacks. In the first half of last year it paid out £134m in dividends and £228m via a B share scheme, which works out to an interim dividend of 371p, Mould and Hewson said.
-First-half results from Stagecoach
-US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (Jolts)
US job openings currently stand at 10.4 million, just short of July’s all-time high of 11.1 million and well above the last unemployment reading of 7.4 million.
The trend in the job openings figure will be important, but so will the quit rate, Mould and Hewson said. “A record number of Americans left their job in September, some 3% of the non-farm labour force. That suggests workers are confident about finding a new job and presumably getting themselves a pay rise in the process – although some workers may be packing in because they are retiring, don’t want to travel because of Covid-19 or even because they think rising stock markets think day trading is a better option (although history clearly suggests that is not necessarily the case).”
-Monetary policy decision from the Bank of Canada
-US oil inventories
-In the US, quarterly results from Lululemon, Jack Daniel’s owner distiller Brown-Forman and Campbell Soup
Thursday 9 December
-Full-year results from Victorian Plumbing and On The Beach
-First-half results from Moonpig
Streeter said while the greeting card company was off to a flying start at its IPO earlier this year, its shares have come crashing down to earth amid warnings of a growth slowdown and renewed competition from bricks and mortar shops. Its shares are currently trading at 330p, one fifth lower than when it listed in February.
“The fresh social restrictions in the Netherlands and concerns about the spread of the variant taking hold in the UK, could see more reluctance to hit the shops, so there is expectation that Moonpig could benefit from a further shift to e-commerce,” said Streeter. “Moonpig has also rolled out augmented reality products to try and stay ahead of the herd, and this innovation might help it win over extra Christmas sales.’’
-First-half results from DS Smith, Dr. Martens, Lendinvest and Clipper Logistics
-Trading statement from Rolls-Royce, Watches of Switzerland, Balfour Beatty and S&U
-Chinese inflation data
-US weekly jobless claims
-In Asia, monthly sales data from silicon chip foundry UMC
-In the US, quarterly results from Costco, Broadcom, Chewy, spam-maker Hormel Foods and Ciena
Friday 10 December
-First-half results from Frasers and Yellow Cake
-Shareholder meeting at Royal Dutch Shell
The FTSE 100 oil giant is hoping to win backing to relocate its headquarters and tax domicile from the Netherlands to the UK, after being hit by a Dutch court order over its climate targets. Investors will also weigh in on scrapping its dual class share structure and dropping ‘Royal Dutch’ from its name.
-US inflation data
Mould and Hewson said it will be interesting to see if the latest inflation readout influences the Federal Reserve’s thinking on its still ultra-loose monetary policy. Fed chair Jay Powell has been shifting away from his prior ‘transitory’ inflation narrative and has made it clear in his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington that inflation, rather than jobs, remains the biggest concern.
Markets are now pricing in a 50% chance of a first rate hike in May, a 75% chance that rates will rise in June and a 50-50 chance of two rate hikes by September, Mould and Hewson note.
However, given GDP is expected to grow to 5.2% in 2022, inflation is running high, unemployment is down at 4.6% and the stock market is hot, “the Fed’s gradual progress toward tapering QE and raising rates could yet threaten its credibility if inflation really does prove sticky,” the pair added.
-Japanese producer price inflation data
-UK industrial, construction and manufacturing output data
-US monthly Federal Budget deficit
-In Asia, monthly sales data from silicon chip foundry TSMC
