It's a quieter week in terms of central bank action, but banking uncertainty may roll on or dissipate which could be good or bad news for those companies announcing results, which include Carnival, Next, Moonpig, Darktrace, AG Barr and Ocado.
Reporting season rolls on for mid- and small-caps, while the macroeconomic news includes UK gross domestic product, mortgage lending, Nationwide house prices and the US Federal Reserve's favourite measure of inflation.
MONDAY 27 MARCH
Carnival PLC (LSE:CCL) will lower the gangplank on its first quarter update on Monday 27 March, following some bumpy seas for the cruise industry over the past three years.
October saw a 30-year low in the shares but investors appeared to be encouraged by a more optimistic outlook for the upcoming financial year, one analyst said.
Significant announcements due on Monday
Finals: Belvoir Group PLC (AIM:BLV), Dialight PLC (LSE:DIA), Life Science REIT PLC (AIM:LABS), SigmaRoc PLC (AIM:SRC), Tandem Group PLC (AIM:TND), Thungela Resources Ltd
Trading updates: Carnival PLC, Hyve Group PLC (LSE:HYVE)
AGMs: GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK)
US earnings: BioNTech
TUESDAY 28 MARCH
Tuesday will bring an update from Ocado Retail, the joint venture between Ocado Group PLC (LSE:OCDO) and Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LSE:MKS), which the former laid much of the blame for its ballooning losses.
The companies and analysts seem to expect some improvements in this first-quarter statement.
Darktrace PLC (LSE:DARK) gives its third-quarter update, with plenty of questions still about its model and opportunities going forward in an increasingly AI-dominated world, while the dark cloud for Irn Bru maker AG Barr PLC is costs, which are expected to dilute profits.
Elsewhere, Wood Group (John) PLC (LSE:WG.), which is second-top on the FTSE 350 leaderboard so far in 2023, reports results with its shares having been lifted by takeover interest by Apollo Global Management, with four bids turned down and the deadline recently extended in order to allow for results to be published.
Elsewhere in energy-related matters, Offshore Energies UK has promised the launch of its "powerful and perhaps controversial" business outlook report, which it said will look at the future of the UK’s North Sea energy supplies, covering offshore oil, gas and wind resources plus emerging industries like hydrogen production and carbon capture.
"It will also cover UK energy security, rising consumer bills and threats to our net zero targets in what is now the run-up to a general election - where energy could be a key issue."
Significant announcements due on Tuesday
Finals: Animalcare Group (AIM:ANCR) PLC, Bango PLC (AIM:BGO, OTCQX:BGOPF), Barr (A.G) PLC, CPP Group (LSE:CPP) PLC, EFK Diagnostics Holdings PLC, Eleco PLC (AIM:ELCO), Empresaria Group, Flowtech Fluidpower (AIM:FLO) PLC, Good Energy Group PLC (AIM:GOOA), Impact Healthcare REIT PLC (LSE:IHR), James Fisher & Sons PLC (LSE:FSJ), Personal Group Holdings PLC (AIM:PGH), S & U PLC (LSE:SUS), Synthomer (LSE:SYNT) PLC, Team17 Group PLC (AIM:TM17), The Mission Group PLC, VH Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities PLC (LSE:GSEO), Wood Group (John) PLC
Interims: Bellway PLC (LSE:BWY), eEnergy Group PLC, Nanoco Group PLC (LSE:NANO), Softcat (LSE:SCT) PLC, Petershill Partners PLC (LSE:PHLL)
Trading updates: Darktrace PLC, United Utilities Group PLC (LSE:UU.), Ocado Group PLC
AGMs: Autins Group PLC (AIM:AUTG), Ground Rents Income Fund PLC
Economic announcements: Kantar grocery market share (UK), House Price Index (US), Consumer Confidence (US)
US earnings: Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU), Micron Technology, Walgreen Boots Alliance
WEDNESDAY 29 MARCH
Midweek we welcome perennial under-promise and over-deliver merchant Next PLC (LSE:NXT), which delivered a warning back in January that it expected full-price sales and pre-tax profits to fall this year - will it tweak this guidance on Wednesday?
In macroeconomics news, there will be an update from the British Retail Consortium on wider retail sales, plus one from the Bank of England on mortgage lending and consumer credit.
Among the other financial statements, there will be numbers from computer games publisher TinyBuild, where analysts recently saw mixed trends for the sector.
Significant announcements due on Wednesday
Finals: Artisanal Spirits Company PLC, Big Technologies PLC (AIM:BIG), Central Asia Metals PLC (AIM:CAML, OTC:CAMLF), Ecora Resources PLC (LSE:ECOR, TSX:ECOR, OTCQX:ECRAF), Inspired PLC (AIM:INSE), Medica Group PLC (LSE:MGP), Michelmersh Brick Holdings Plc (AIM:MBH), Next PLC, Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust PLC (LSE:ORIT), RM Plc (LSE:RM.), S4 Capital PLC (LSE:SFOR), Strix Group PLC (AIM:KETL), Surgical Innovations Group (AIM:SUN) PLC, TinyBuild Inc, Xaar
Interims: UP Global Sourcing Holdings PLC (LSE:UPGS)
AGMs: Various Eateries PLC (AIM:VARE), Versarien PLC
Economic announcements: BRC Shop Price Index (UK), Consumer Credit (UK), M4 Money Supply (UK), Mortgage Approvals (UK), MBA Mortgage Applications (US), Pending Home Sales (US), Crude Oil Inventories (US)
US earnings: Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX)
THURSDAY 30 MARCH
On Thursday, will it be a 'congratulations' or a 'commiserations' card for Moonpig Group PLC (LSE:MOON)?
One broker thinks there is a lot to like about the sector.
Significant announcements due on Thursday
Finals: Aquis Exchange Limited, Arbuthnot Banking Group (AIM:ARBB) PLC, BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A, Chesnara PLC (LSE:CSN), Gresham House PLC (AIM:GHE), IGas Energy PLC (AIM:IGAS, OTC:IGESF), International Public Partnerships Limited, Microlise Group PLC (AIM:SAAS), Robinson PLC (AIM:RBN), Secure Trust Bank PLC (LSE:STB), Time Out Group PLC (AIM:TMO), XLMedia PLC (AIM:XLM, OTC:XLMDF)
Interims: Gattaca PLC (AIM:GATC), Renalytix PLC (AIM:RENX), Supermarket Income REIT PLC (LSE:SUPR, OTC:SUPIF)
Trading updates: Moonpig Group PLC
Ex-dividends to reduce FTSE 100 by: 6.16 points (abrdn, Aviva, InterContinental Hotels, Mondi, Phoenix Group, Smith & Nephew, Taylor Wimpey)
AGMs: AssetCo PLC (AIM:ASTO), Banco Santander (LSE:BNC) SA, Nexus Infrastructure PLC, Oxford BioDynamics PLC (AIM:OBD), Pantheon Infrastructure PLC (LSE:PINT), Power Metal Resources PLC (AIM:POW)
Economic announcements: Continuing Claims (US), Gross Domestic Product (US), Initial Jobless Claims (US), Personal Consumptions Expenditures (US)
US earnings: BlackBerry
FRIDAY 31 MARCH
Bringing the week, the month and the first quarter to an end, investors will be hoping to see improvements at Computacenter PLC.
The technology and services provider will release delayed full-year earnings after the group's auditor requested additional time, with no specific guidance having been given for these numbers, apart from that it was "encouraged" by customer investment in technology and was "bullish as we have ever been".
In macroeconomic news, following the US Federal Reserve's rate rise in the past week, the central bank’s favoured measure of inflation, the core personal consumer expenditure deflator, is due to be published on Friday.
Through the week, "we will be listening out for officials' latest views on where the risks lie and how they see the path for monetary policy evolving", said economists at ING.
"Central bankers continue to argue that financial stability policy measures and price stability measures should be viewed separately, but the feedback from stresses in the financial system, we believe, will inevitably impact the real economy and the outlook for inflation. In this regard, we will be keeping a close eye on consumer sentiment measures given the unsettling news flow surrounding the banks in recent weeks."
Significant announcements due on Friday
Finals: Computacenter PLC (LSE:CCC), M P Evans Group PLC, Rathbones Group PLC (LSE:RAT, OTC:RTBBF), Vanquis PLC
Interims: James Halstead PLC (AIM:JHD)
Trading updates: Pennon Group PLC (LSE:PNN, OTC:PEGRY)
AGMs: Angus Energy PLC (AIM:ANGS), Brunner Investment Trust (LSE:BUT) PLC, Inland Homes PLC (AIM:INL), Mediazest PLC (AIM:MDZ), Pressure Technologies PLC (AIM:PRES), Tekmar Group PLC (AIM:TGP)
Economic announcements: Gross Domestic Product (UK), Current Account (UK), Nationwide House Price Index (UK), Personal Consumption Expenditures (US), Personal Income (US), Personal Spending (US), Chicago PMI (US), U. of Michigan Confidence (Final) (US)