THE WEEK AHEAD
COMPANY NEWS
● WM Morrison release its Christmas trading update today.
● Tomorrow the US National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon incident release their final report on the causes of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
● Marks & Spencer, the iconic British department store, will publish its third quarter interim management statement tomorrow.
● Supermarket giant J Sainsbury release its third quarter trading statement on Wednesday.
● Thursday sees Balfour Beatty release its fourth quarter trading update.
ECONOMICS NEWS
● China’s December trade balance figures were published this morning.
● France publishes its November industrial production figures today.
● The US publishes its November job openings and labour turnover figures tomorrow.
● The UK’s November trade balance is released on Wednesday.
● The EU Commission will hold a conference on integrated economic governance on Wednesday.
● Germany’s GDP figures are released on Wednesday.
● The US Federal Reserve Beige Book will be published on Wednesday.
● Brazil’s November retail sales figures will be released on Wednesday.
● Australia publishes its December unemployment figures on Thursday.
● Thursday will see interest rates announcements from both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank (ECB). These will occur at 12pm and 12.45pm respectively.
● Friday sees US December retail sales, the consumer price index (CPI) and industrial production figures released.
POLITICAL NEWS
● The Chinese vice premier will be visiting the UK this week. He is likely to have meetings with David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague.
● The ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet will hold a press conference following the global economy meeting today.
● The South Korean and Japanese defence ministers meet today to discuss issues including boosting military ties and North Korea’s recent actions.
● Today President Obama and Sarkozy will hold a summit on current foreign policy and security issues.