Pakistan elections, peak earnings season and lunar new year

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Hello and welcome to the working week.

This newsletter has been accused of being too western in its outlook. But not this week.

Celebrations will ring out across Asia and beyond this Saturday with the beginning of the next lunar year — the year of the dragon for most countries that mark the occasion.

Before that, Pakistan goes to the polls amid heightened political controversy. Former prime minister Imran Khan will not be taking part, having been sentenced to 10 years in prison last week, but his embattled party is doing everything it can — including adopting artificial intelligence — to get its vote out. The winner will be announced on Friday.

It will be a peak week for corporate earnings, particularly in the US. Media will be a strong theme here with results from Fox, News Corp, Disney, Thomson Reuters and The New York Times Company. Also, it will be a busy week for carmakers — notably Nissan, Toyota and Ford — and (yet more) tech — Alibaba, Arm, Spotify and Uber. More details below.

Other things are, of course, happening in the rest of the world, many of them involving the build-up to other votes in this year of democracy. On Tuesday, the next round of US presidential primary contests will be held in Nevada, though the next major contest will be later in the month in South Carolina. On Sunday, Finland holds its presidential run-off election.

The run of economic statistics this week is more of a trickle, starting with the international comparator of service industry purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data. The US only has little more than trade figures and the annual consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate revisions, while China looks to CPI, producer price index (PPI) inflation and credit aggregates.

One more thing . . . 

It’s Super Bowl Sunday next weekend, and that means one thing: wall-to-wall Taylor Swift.

What are your priorities this week? Email me at jonathan.moules@ft.com or, if you are reading this from your inbox, hit reply.

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

• World Bank president Ajay Banga in a fireside chat with Center for Global Development president Masood Ahmed

• OECD Interim Economic Outlook Report

• Canada, China, EU, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, US: S&P Global/HCOB services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) figures

• Indonesia: Q4 GDP figures

• Mexico: Constitution Day holiday. Financial markets closed

• Pakistan: Kashmir Day. Financial markets closed

• UK: Labour Force Survey key indicators

• Results: Caterpillar Q4, Estée Lauder Q2, Itochu Q3, Kikkoman Q3, Loews Corp Q4, McDonald’s Q4, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Q3, NXP Semiconductors Q4, ON Semiconductor Q4, Sumitomo Q3, Tyson Foods Q1, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Q4, Vodafone Q3 trading update

Tuesday

• Australia: Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate announcement

• EU: December retail sales figures

• Germany: January factory orders data

• UK: BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor, plus S&P Global construction PMI data

• Results: Alfa-Laval Q4, Amgen Q4, BP Q4, Eli Lilly Q4, Ford Q4, H&R Block Q2, Gartner Q4, Infineon Technologies Q1, Linde Q4, Mitsubishi Q3, Nintendo Q3, Omnicom Q4, Prudential Financial Q4, Snap Q4, Spotify Q4, Toyota Q3, UBS Q4, Virgin Money UK Q1 trading update, Western Union Q4, Willis Towers Watson Q4

Wednesday

• France: January trade balance data

• Germany: January industrial production figures

• UK: Halifax February House Price index

• Results: Alibaba Q4, Akzo Nobel Q4, Arm Holdings Q3, Ashmore Group HY, Barratt Developments HY, PZ Cussons FY, CVS Health Q4, DCC Q3 trading statement, Equinor Q4, Fox Corp Q2, Handelsbanken FY, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Q4, Mattel Q4, News Corp Q2, The New York Times Company Q4, Nippon Steel Q3, Ørsted FY, Pandora Q4, Securitas FY, Smurfit Kappa FY, Suzuki Motor Q3, TotalEnergies FY, Uber Q4, Vestas FY, Vinci FY, Walt Disney Q1

Thursday

• China: January consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI) inflation rate data

• EU: European Central Bank Economic Bulletin

• India: interest rate announcement

• Japan: December trade balance figures (AM local time)

• UK: Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors House Price Survey

• Results: Anglo American Q4 production report, Allstate Q4, ArcelorMittal Q4, AstraZeneca Q4, British American Tobacco FY, CMC Markets trading update and revised outlook for 2024, ConocoPhillips Q4, Compass Group Q1 trading update and AGM, Crédit Agricole FY, Honda Q3, Kering FY, L’Oreal FY, Mediobanca HY, Nissan Q3, Philip Morris International Q4, Pinterest Q4, Publicis Groupe FY, Ralph Lauren Q3, Redrow HY, Société Générale FY, Siemens Q1, SoftBank Q3, SSE Q3 trading statement, Take-Two Interactive Software Q3, Thomson Reuters Q4, T Rowe Price Q4, Ubisoft Q3 sales update, Unilever FY, Watches of Switzerland Q3 trading update

Friday

• Canada: unemployment rate

• China: lunar new year’s eve. Financial markets closed

• Germany: final January CPI and harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) inflation rate data

• Results: Bellway trading update, Hermès FY, Iveco Group Q4, Kongsberg Gruppen Q4, PepsiCo Q4, Skanska FY, Victrex trading update and AGM

World events

Finally, here is a rundown of other events and milestones this week.

Monday

Tuesday

• UK: former prime minister Liz Truss to launch a new political grouping of Tory MPs, Popular Conservatism. For analysis of this, and current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s predicament, read Robert Shrimsley’s excellent column

• US: Democrats hold their second presidential primary contest, while the Republicans hold their third, this time in Nevada

Wednesday

• Azerbaijan: presidential election

• UK: 26th MOBO Awards, the UK’s biggest celebration of Black music and culture

Thursday

• France: 48th Ordinary Uefa Congress, including the presidents and general secretaries of Uefa’s 55-member football associations. A vote is expected on limiting Uefa president Aleksander Čeferin to three terms, potentially allowing him to remain in the role until 2031

• Pakistan: general election

Friday

• Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz travels to the US for a two-day visit, including meeting President Joe Biden at the White House

• US: New York Fashion Week begins, running until February 14. London Fashion Week follows next

Saturday

• Lunar new year, the year of the dragon, celebrated across different Asian countries, including China, South Korea, North Korea, Singapore and Cambodia, In Thailand the Year of the Naga a mythical, water serpent, begins

Sunday

• Finland: presidential run-off election

• US: Super Bowl LVIII sees the San Francisco 49ers play defending champions Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas