What to Expect from the Week Ahead

GDP results from Germany, the UK and the US, as well as BoE minutes and earnings from banks and construction firms

Morningstar.co.uk Editors 18 February, 2011 | 6:20PM
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Next week will provide multiple news of interest on the economic and corporate front alike.

After Barclays (BARC) set a positive tone for the UK financial sector this week by announcing strong full-year results, investors will be looking to annual results from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds (LLOY) on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Barclays shares are trading ex-dividend on Wednesday.

Given that Lloyds and RBS were saved from collapse by UK taxpayers’ money, their annual results will show how well the government’s investment managers, UK Financial Investments, are doing their job. We can also get some insight into how likely it is that the taxpayer will receive a return on their investment upon the eventual sale of the state assets and in what time frame this might happen.

Elsewhere, a number of corporate and economic announcements will shed light on the health of the UK housing and construction sector. Rightmove is releasing its February house prices survey on Monday. Later in the week, materials supplier Travis Perkins (TPK) and building and civil engineering firm Kier Group (KIE) are announcing annual results.

On a more macro-level, a long set of leading economic indicators and GDP data on both sides of the Atlantic will offer clues about the health of the global recovery. The Purchasing Managers Index is due in France, Germany and the eurozone on Monday. Perhaps of less predictive value, but still closely followed by the market, the German Ifo Survey, US Conference Board Consumer Confidence index, the EC Economic Sentiment and the University of Michigan Consumer Confidence survey for February will be released on one of each weekday except for Wednesday.

Moving from the sentiment surveys to the real digits--German fourth-quarter GDP is due on Thursday, followed by UK and US economic output on Friday.

On the political scene, we will be following how events in the Middle East evolve, given the proven impact social unrest in this part of the world has and how sensitive to discontent in the Arab world oil prices are.

Monday
UK Corporate Announcements
FTSE 100: Hammerson (HMSO) preliminaries
FTSE 250: Devro (DVO) preliminaries, Mondi (MNDI) preliminaries

UK Economic Announcements
Rightmove House Prices for February, Focus on Consumer Prices for January 2011, Economic and Labour Market Review for March 2011

International Economic Announcements
Japan: All Industry Activity Index for December
Eurozone: French, German and EU Service and Manufacturing PMIs for February, German Ifo Survey for February

Tuesday
UK Corporate Announcements

FTSE 250: Croda International (CRDA) preliminaries, Drax Group (DRX) preliminaries, Genus (GNS) interims, Informa (INF) preliminaries

UK Economic Announcements
Public Sector Net Borrowing for January

International Economic Announcements
Japan: BoJ MPB Minutes
US: Consumer Confidence and Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for February, S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for December

Wednesday
UK Corporate Announcements
FTSE 100: Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) preliminaries, Henderson Group (HGG) preliminaries, Rexam (REX) preliminaries
FTSE 250: Logica (LOG) preliminaries, St James's Place (STJ) preliminaries, Travis Perkins (TPK) preliminaries

Ex-Dividend
FTSE 100: Barclays (BARC), Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.)
FTSE 250: Domino’s Pizza (DOM), Ladbrokes (LAD), PZ Cussons (PZC)

UK Economic Announcements
Bank of England MPC Minutes, BBA Mortgage Approvals

International Economic Announcements
Japan:
Small Business Confidence for February, Merchandise Trade for January
Eurozone: French CPI for January and EC Industrial New Orders for December
US: Existing Home Sales for January

Thursday
UK Corporate Announcements
FTSE 100:
British American Tobacco (BATS) preliminaries, Capita Group (CPI) preliminaries, Centrica (CNA) preliminaries, Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) preliminaries, RSA Insurance Group (RSA) preliminaries
FTSE 250: Ashmore Group (ASHM) interims, Barratt Developments (BDEV) interims, Bodycote (BOY) preliminaries, Filtrona (FLTR) preliminaries, Hunting (HTG) preliminaries, Kier Group (KIE) interims, National Express Group (NEX) preliminaries, Sportingbet (SBT) interims

UK Economic Announcements
CBI Reported Sales for February

International Economic Announcements
Eurozone:
German 4Q GDP, German GfK Consumer Confidence for February, ECB Business Climate Indicator for February, EC Confidence Index for February
US: Weekly jobless claims, Chicago Fed National Activity Index for January, New Home Sales for January, Durable Goods for January

Friday
UK Corporate Announcements
FTSE 100:
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY)
FTSE 250: Berendsen (BRSN), Rank Group (RNK), Rightmove (RMV), Segro (SGRO), Spectris (SXS), William Hill (WMH)

UK Economic Announcements
4Q GDP, Trade Balance, Government Spending and Private Consumption, GfK Consumer Confidence for February

International Economic Announcements
Japan:
CPI for January
Eurozone: German CPI for February, French Consumer Spending of January
US: 4Q GDP and Personal Consumption, University of Michigan Consumer Confidence for February

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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