Hello and welcome to the working week.
We are all a lot more aware about the need to look after ourselves these days — a very thin silver lining to a pandemic — and this week a lot of people are looking to do just that.
Firstly, there is a glut of marathons, both those that were delayed, such as Paris, and an annual autumn fixture, such as the Boston event, run each year on the Columbus Day public holiday. If you enjoy a gruelling run — like the FT’s Laura Noonan — there are more than 300 to choose from in October, more than any other month this year, according to online tracker Global Marathon.
For those concerned about what they eat (or rather should not eat), prepare yourselves for Anti-McDonald’s Day on Saturday. Then there is the growing trend for Covid passports, coming into force in Wales on Monday and Brussels on Friday, measures that divide societies. Stay safe.
Companies
After a profit warning wiped 15 per cent from Boohoo’s market value last month, investors will be watching closely the full-year results from rival Asos on Thursday. The two online fashion retailers serve slightly different markets, and Asos has the benefit of already having distribution infrastructure in the US and Europe.
But cost pressures are mounting in the supply chain and competition is increasing — both from reopened bricks-and-mortar retailers and online rivals such as China’s SheIn. Analysts are expecting pre-tax profit of £180m on sales of £3.92bn, and more detail on future strategy at an accompanying capital markets day.
It is the first flush of banking results season. Goldman Sachs, reporting third-quarter earnings on Friday, is a bellwether for investment banking, an industry thriving on the mergers and acquisitions boom.
JPMorgan Chase on Wednesday will provide a broader outlook on loan demand (which has been soft) and overall consumer spending, which has recovered but could be under threat from the coronavirus Delta variant.
If BlackRock’s results on Wednesday interest you, you should read this.
Economic data
The two key items on the UK’s economic agenda this week will be the labour market figures on Tuesday and, 24 hours later, the August gross domestic product estimate, giving us a better guide to what is happening behind the headline news of HGV driver and abattoir worker shortages, upward pressure on wages and a return to 1970s economics.
Hopefully, they will be more uplifting than last Friday’s US non-farm payroll data — apologies, by the way, to those of you who did not feel enough was made about this last week, but thank you for the emails. Keep them coming to jonathan.moules@ft.com.
Inflation will again be a topic on conversation with consumer and producer price index data published for the US, India, Germany, Japan, France and Italy.
Key economic and company reports
Here is a more complete list of what to expect in terms of company reports and economic data this week.
Monday
Italy, Istat industrial production figures
Galp Energia SGPS trading update
Tuesday
India, monthly consumer price index figures
Italy, meeting of G20 trade ministers in Sorrento
Japan, monthly producer price index figures
UK, Office for National Statistics monthly labour market statistics
UK, earnings and employment update from Pay As You Earn data
US, IMF update on its Global Financial Stability Report, evaluating risks in the global financial system
Results: LVMH Q3
Wednesday
China, monthly trade figures
Germany, consumer price index data
Just Eat Takeaway Q3 trading update
Opec monthly oil market report
UK, ONS monthly GDP estimate, plus trade and construction output data, and monthly index of production and services
Results: BlackRock Q3, Infosys Q2, JPMorgan Chase Q3
Thursday
Ashmore Group AGM
Barratt Developments AGM and trading update
BHP’s London AGM
China, monthly consumer price index and inflation figures
Japan, industrial production data
UK, Bank of England’s bank liabilities survey and quarterly credit conditions review
UK, CBI and PwC quarterly financial services survey
UK, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors monthly residential market survey
US, Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price indices
Results: Asos FY, Bank of America Q3, Citigroup Q3, Domino’s Pizza Q3, Fast Retailing FY, HCL Technologies Q2, Morgan Stanley Q3, Südzucker Q2, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Q3, Temenos Q3, United Health Group Q3, US Bancorp Q3, Walgreens Boots Alliance FY, Wells Fargo Q3
Friday
EU, Eurostat monthly data for international trade in goods
France, inflation rate figures
Hargreaves Lansdown Q3 operations review
Italy, Istat monthly consumer price index and inflation data
UK, company and individual insolvency statistics for England and Wales
Results: China Tower Q3, Goldman Sachs Q3, Honeywell Q3, JB Hunt Transport Services Q3, PNC Financial Services Q3, Prologis Q3, Rio Tinto Q3
World events
Finally, here is a rundown of other events and milestones this week.
Monday
Canada, Thanksgiving Day
Spain, Pharma Europe, billed as the world’s largest meeting of commercial pharmaceutical industry executives, starts in Barcelona
Sweden, winner of the Nobel Prize in economics announced in Stockholm
UK, vaccine passports come into force in Wales
US, Boston marathon takes place
US, Columbus Day public holiday
Tuesday
UK, Thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey to mark the centenary of the Royal British Legion
US, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin NS-18 spacecraft is set for launch with Star Trek actor William Shatner on board
Wednesday
UK, general election on Saint Helena, the second-oldest British overseas territory after Bermuda
US, 57th annual Chicago International Film Festival begins
Thursday
Italy, Venice Commission of the Council of Europe is to hold its 128th plenary session at the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista
Friday
Belgium, vaccine passports come into effect in Brussels
Italy plans to bring into force some of the strictest anti-Covid measures in the world, making it obligatory for all workers either to show proof of vaccination, a negative test or recent recovery from infection
Italy, preliminary hearing is to take place in Genoa in the court case regarding the collapsed Morandi motorway bridge in 2018
Saturday
Worldwide Anti-McDonald’s Day events take place
Sunday
Canada, Toronto marathon
France, Paris marathon
Portugal, Lisbon marathon
Source: Economy - ft.com
