Quiet week for data, big week for earnings

After the central bank and non-farm jobs report excitement that comprised the first few days of February this week’s economic offerings look pretty dismal in comparison.

UK
It is an almost lethally dull week for the UK markets, with only a few smatterings of data; Tuesday sees the Halifax HPI, while Friday brings with it the manufacturing and industrial production readings. That isn’t going to help the FTSE recover the momentum it lose in the back end of January, the index repeatedly getting stuck around the 7150 mark. Given the sparsity of the economic calendar, any significant movement is likely going to come from Brexit-related news.

There is, at least, a solid string of earnings releases and trading statements to keep investors interested. Tuesday will see BP try and match the huge profit recovery posted by Shell last week, alongside updates from Firstgroup, GW Pharmaceuticals and Bellway (see below). Wednesday then has GlaxoSmithKline and Rio Tinto fight for the market’s attention, while Thursday brings with it the first 2017 statements from Thomas Cook, Pennon Group and Manchester United.

US
Following its Fed/non-farm splurge last week, the US economic schedule is looking just as dreary as its UK peer. The JOLTS job openings and unemployment claims readings give an extra bit of insight into the labour market on Tuesday and Thursday respectively, while investors may be interested in seeing whether the preliminary UoM consumer sentiment figure matches the surprise drop in CB consumer confidence on Friday. Of course, there is also the Trump-factor, the President flitting between a source of concern and celebration for the Dow Jones et al.

Like in the UK things might be rescued by an interesting earnings calendar, with a whole host of big names preparing to report. American staples General Motors and Walt Disney update on Tuesday, while the AT&T-bound Time Warner, Whole Foods and Lions Gate Entertainment release statements on Wednesday. Thursday is perhaps the busiest day, with everything from Call of Duty and World of Warcraft-owning Activision Blizzard, Coca-Cola, Kellogg, Twitter, Viacom, WWE and Pizza Hut and KFC-running Yum! Brands.

Eurozone
Alas, the Eurozone doesn’t have much to offer this week either. The region-wide retail PMI is joined by the German factory orders reading on Monday, with the German trade balance figure on Tuesday and the French and Italian industrial production figures on Friday.

Stock of the week: Bellway PLC – Interim Trading Statement
Bellway’s most recent report in mid-December neatly captures the reasons why Bellway has been able to post such a sustained climb since it hit its post-Brexit lows back in July. Between the 1st August and 4th December the company saw its reservation rate rise from 165 to 176 per week, a 6.6% jump year-on-year inspired by the government’s Help to Buy scheme. Bellway also revealed it had started buying land again thanks to an uptick in business, an important sign of confidence returning to the sector.

As for its interim figures on Tuesday, investors will want confirmation that Bellway is still on track to deliver both a 5% rise in home completions for the full year and a dividend of 74p per share (up from 52p in 2015).

• UK 100
• Wall Street
• Cable
• Gold

Open (Monday)

7155.8

Close (Thursday)

7153.5

Change

-0.03%

High

7165.3

Low

7090.6

Open (Monday)

20032.0

Close (Thursday)

19884.3

Change

-0.74%

High

20059.5

Low

19783.5

Open (Monday)

1.25487

Close (Thursday)

1.25194

Change

-0.23%

High

1.27066

Low

1.24125

Open (Monday)

1196.1

Close (Thursday)

1216.4

Change

+1.70%

High

1227.4

Low

1190.1