Monday 3 February
– Ryanair trading statement
– US ISM manufacturing
Canaccord Genuity investment manager Sam Buckingham said concerns rumble on over the US manufacturing sector, and rightly so when you consider the plunging ISM Manufacturing PMI, which has fallen from 60.8 in August 2018 to 47.2 in December.
“While concern is justified, as the ongoing trade war with China continues to take its toll on the sector, what has been comforting investors for now is the fact that the corresponding Markit US Manufacturing PMI has actually held up much better and indeed remains in expansionary territory (ie above 50). Bloomberg consensus indicates a forecast for the reading to rise to 48.4 – although bear in mind that the last six consecutive monthly readings have disappointed and came in below expectations.”
Tuesday 4 February
– BP, Glencore and Mattioli Woods trading statements
– FCA policy statement on reporting costs and charges information to workplace pension scheme members
Wednesday 5 February
– Glaxosmithkline, Barratt Developments, Redrow and Vodafone trading statements
– Finalised eurozone PMIs
Buckingham said: “The broader eurozone composite PMI looks like it will remain unchanged from December’s level, at 50.9. Having said that, on a country level, Germany looks to be making a slight resurgence – the Composite PMI is comfortably out of contractionary territory at a healthy 51.1, dragged up by its strong services sector.
“As the eurozone’s largest economy, Germany teetered close to a technical recession last year, and if the manufacturing sector continues to strengthen, recession fears should soon dissipate.”
Thursday 6 February
– Supermarket Income Reit interim results
Friday 7 February
– US non-farm payrolls
Buckingham said: “The labour market remains very strong and one of the bright spots of the US economy. Having said that, what has been concerning us is the steady fall in wage growth, with the year-on-year average hourly earnings falling to 2.9% in December. For this reason, we will be focusing on the updated wage growth numbers – current estimates for January forecast a monthly increase of 0.3%.”
