Monday 8 July
– Balance of Trade (GER)
– Current Account (GER)
– Industrial Production (GER)
A raft of German economic data including balance of trade, current account and industrial production. It will be interesting to see how Europe’s powerhouse is holding up given industrial production in April fell by 1.9% compared with the previous month and exports were 0.5% lower than a year earlier.
The Bundesbank is predicting growth of just 0.6% for 2019, compared with its 1.6% forecast made in December.
Tuesday 9 July
– Ocado first-half results
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said news flow has generally been good from the online supermarket and shares have rallied strongly this year, despite the fire at its third customer fulfilment centre in Hampshire in February. The firm has been boosted by February’s deal to sell half of a joint-venture in food delivery to Marks & Spencer and a technology licensing agreement with Coles of Australia in March, said Mould.
Investors can now see how these issues are affecting Ocado’s financial performance. Analysts will be looking at several headline numbers including sales, orders per week , average basket size and pre-tax profit.
– US job openings (Jolts) survey
The Jolts number peaked at 7.6 million last November and had receded slightly to 7.4 million by April, so the May reading could be interesting, especially in the context of the booming US stock market and the Federal Reserve’s building enthusiasm for interest rate cuts.
“Note that is only when job openings start to shrink on a year-on-year basis that the US stock market really starts to pay attention – and although April 2019’s reading was the weakest since December 2017, it was still up by 8% year-on-year,” said Mould.
Wednesday 10 July
– Barratt Developments trading announcement
FTSE 100 housebuilder and Woodford favourite, Barratt Developments – the second largest holding in the suspended Woodford Equity Income fund – is due to issue a trading update. Short-sellers have been reported to have taken positions out against a series of Woodford favourites, including Barratt Developments, as the embattled manager looks to offload illiquid names in the portfolio.
– Financial Conduct Authority Annual Public Meeting
The public meeting with opening remarks by FCA chairman Charles Randell and a presentation from chief executive Andrew Bailey.
– UK gross domestic product
– UK balance of trade
– UK index of services
– UK industrial production
– UK Manufacturing Production
Thursday 11 July
– PA Wealth Manager Awards
The great and good from the industry will descend on the Corinthia Hotel in Westminster on Thursday evening, 11 July, as Portfolio Adviser celebrates excellence in UK wealth management at its annual awards. Boutique and large wealth managers will be recognised for their cautious, balanced and aggressive portfolios, as well as their approach to ESG, diversity and digital innovation. Keep an eye on the PA website for the full list of winners and good luck to those involved.
– Kier Group trading announcement
Another Woodford holding, Kier Group, will issue a trading update on Thursday. The construction group has had a rough time of late crashed 40% early last month as it issued a profit warning just prior to the announcement the Woodford Equity income fund was being suspended. At the time, Woodford owned a fifth of the company. Then as if things couldn’t get much worse for Woodford they plummeted 35.5% on 13 June.
– Trading statement from Polar Capital
– Consumer price index (GER)
– Consumer price index (US)
– RICS housing market survey
– Bank of England Financial Stability Report
The report sets out the BoE Financial Policy Committee’s view on the stability of the UK financial system and what it is doing to remove or reduce any risks to it.
Friday 12 July
– Industrial production (EU)
