What to Expect from the Week Ahead

International trade data, price statistics and corporate announcements from the financial, energy and transport sectors should keep investors busy next week

Morningstar.co.uk Editors 6 May, 2011 | 6:49PM
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Next week will bring along another hefty dose of corporate and economic announcements of note.

On the macroeconomic front, trade data from the US, EU and China will be in focus, starting with Beijing announcing its trade balance for April and Germany’s current account for March on Monday. On Wednesday, a batch of trade data from the UK and US will add insights into the global flow of goods and services in the month of Japan’s disastrous earthquake. Japan’s own current account for March is due on Friday.

In addition to international trade statistics, a number of countries will be reporting their consumer and producer price dynamics. The Bank of England will issue its quarterly inflation report on Wednesday; CPI data from China and Germany is also due on that day; US CPI figures are out on Friday. Also on Friday, we will see flash first-quarter GDP numbers for Germany, France and the eurozone as a whole. Inflation and economic growth statistics from continental Europe will be of particular interest in the aftermath of the ECB rate hike last month which, against a background of the Fed keeping its base rate unchanged, put upward pressure on the common currency.

In terms of notable corporate announcements, next week will be no less busy. News from the financials, travel and commodity sectors in particular are likely to take centre stage. Among heavyweight banks and insurers, HSBC (HSBA) is to update the market on Monday, followed by Prudential’s (PRU) interim management statement on Tuesday and updates from Old Mutual (OML) and RSA Insurance (RSA) on Thursday. Meanwhile, commodity majors Lonmin (LMI), BG Group (BG.), Tullow Oil (TLW) and Petrofac (PFC) will shed light on their quarterly performance on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, respectively. In the travel and leisure sector, announcements by Thomas Cook (TCG) on Monday and TUI Travels (TT.) and InterContinental Hotels (IHG) on Tuesday will be in the spotlight.

Monday
UK Corporate Announcements
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) IMS, Inmarsat (ISAT) 1Q, Lonmin (LMI) interims and 2Q production report, Thomas Cook Group (TCG) interims
International Economic Announcements
China: Trade Balance for April
Eurozone: German Current Account for March, Bank of France Business Sentiment for April and EC Sentix Investor Confidence for May

Tuesday
Morningstar UK Conference Day 1
UK Corporate Announcements
BG Group (BG.) 1Q, Brown Group (BWNG) preliminaries, CSR (CSR) 1Q, easyJet (EZJ) interims, G4S (GFS) IMS, Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) interims, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1Q, TUI Travel (TT.) interims
UK Economic Announcements
BRC Like-for-Like Sales for April, RICS House Price Balance for April
International Economic Announcements
Eurozone: French Industrial Production for March
US: NFIB Small Business Optimism for April, Import Price Index for April, Wholesale Inventories for March

Wednesday
Morningstar UK Conference Day 2
UK Corporate Announcements
FirstGroup (FGP) preliminaries, J Sainsbury (SBRY) preliminaries, John Wood Group (WG.) IMS, Prudential (PRU) IMS, Rathbone Brothers (RAT) IMS, SIG (SHI) AGM, Super Group (SGP) trading statement
Ex-dividend Dates
FTSE 100: BP (BP.), Inmarsat (ISAT), Wm Morrison Supermarkets (MRW), Randgold Resources (RRS), REXAM (REX), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB), The Sage Group (SGE), Whitbread (WTB)
FTSE 250: Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN), Bunzl (BNZL), Computacenter (CCC), CSR (CSR), Fidessa Group (FDSA), Hiscox (HSX), Hochschild Mining (HOC), Lamprell (LAM), Provident Financial (PFG), Rightmove (RMV)
UK Economic Announcements
Visible Trade Balance and Non-EU Trade Balance for March, Bank of England Quarterly Inflation Report
International Economic Announcements
China: CPI for April, PPI for April, Industrial Production for April, Retail Sales for April
Eurozone: German CPI for April, French Current Account for March
US: Trade Balance for March, Monthly Budget Statement for April

Thursday
UK Corporate Announcements
3i Group (III) preliminaries, BT Group (BT.A) preliminaries, Old Mutual (OML) IMS, RSA Insurance (RSA) IMS, Tullow Oil (TLW) IMS
UK Economic Announcements
Industrial Production and Manufacturing Output for March, NIESR GDP estimate for April
International Economic Announcements
Japan: Money Supply for April, Current Account for March. Machine Tool Orders for April
Eurozone: French CPI for April, ECB May Monthly Report, eurozone Industrial Production for March
US: Weekly Jobless Claims, PPI for April, Retail Sales for April, Business Inventories for March

Friday
UK Corporate Announcements
Dixons Retail (DXNS) trading update, London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) preliminaries, Petrofac (PFC) IMS
International Economic Announcements
Eurozone: French and German 1Q Flash GDP, French 1Q Non-Farm Payrolls and French Wage Growth, eurozone 1Q GDP
US: CPI for April and University Michigan’s Consumer Confidence Survey for May

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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