It’s once again another busy week on the cards for investors as hordes of FTSE 100 and 250 firms report half-year results.
One sector gaining particular attention will be oil and gas, with two of the FTSE 100’s largest constituents BP and Shell set to report.
Interest will focus on profits, capital returns and windfall taxes as usual, however, this time around there will be a slightly different backdrop.
The different background is the new Labour government, which has already signified plans to improve the UK’s decarbonisation goals, whilst also shaking up the oil and gas industry through the creation of the Great British Energy Company.
Earlier this month, Shell quit its green fuel facility in Rotterdam in a sign that it was starting to abandon some of its sustainable energy plans.
Shell’s decisions have been met with heavy criticism from environmental groups and investors, and if it or BP were to push things further it could mean locking horns with the new government.
Both parties will have to undergo somewhat of a balancing act to avoid losing some of the largest companies in London, with Shell boss Wael Sawan having previously threatened to ditch the LSE for the US.
The final part of banking season will also take place next week, with Barclays, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Virgin Money and Metro Bank all reporting.
A new chief executive at HSBC, the potential acquisition of Virgin Money by Nationwide and Metro Bank’s latest deal with NatWest is likely to play a part in the surrounding sentiment of these results.
In the US, the likes of Microsoft, Amazon, McDonald’s, Apple, and Meta will all post their second-quarter results at a time when the market is in a slight downturn.
A sell-off in the tech sector is affecting markets both in the States and the rest of the world, but analysts believe it shouldn’t be too much cause for concern.
David Morrison at Trade Nation said: “Despite the significant pullback in the Magnificent Seven, and other corporates whose futures are linked to the development of generative AI, there has been no panic.
“Rather, analysts have been quick to explain that this rotation is an indication of the underlying market strength, as the froth gets blown off an overvalued tech sector.”
In the world of macroeconomics, Brits are hopeful that the Bank of England’s interest rate meeting will result in borrowing fees being lowered after seven consecutive meetings of them being held at 5.25%.
While economists had been predicting a cut at this meeting, persistent price rises in the service sector means the Bank of England may opt to wait until Autumn.
Meanwhile, in the US, non-farm payrolls will be in the sights of US investors, with any signs of a cooling job market helping the chances of a rate cut.
Monday 29 July
Pearson will need to convince investors it can shrug off recent regulatory changes to the English tuition space... read more
Will McDonald's be able to give investors some meat to chew on in its interims, a month after its plant-based burger programme failed... read more
Announcements due:
Finals: Trifast (LSE:TRI), Ondo InsurTech PLC (LSE:ONDO)
Interims: Cranswick PLC (LSE:CWK), Jadestone Energy PLC (AIM:JSE), Pearson PLC (LSE:PSON), Smithson Investment Trust PLC, Quartix Technologies PLC (AIM:QTX)
AGMs: Alliance Pharma PLC (AIM:APH), Cranswick PLC, Invinity Energy Systems PLC (AIM:IES, OTCQX:IESVF, AQSE:IES), Mining Minerals And Metals PlC, Mid-Wynd International Investment Trust PLC, Premier African Minerals Ltd (AIM:PREM, OTC:PRMMF), Sdx Energy PLC, Spectra Systems Corporation (AIM:SPSY, OTC:SCTQ)
US earnings: McDonald’s Corp
Economic announcements: Consumer Credit (UK), M4 Money Supply (UK), Mortgage Approvals (UK)
Tuesday 30 July
Can BP change the minds of analysts at JP Morgan... read more
St James Place's update is expected to contain a myriad of risks... read more
Guinness owner Diageo PLC (LSE:DGE) is expected to report another slide in earnings in its full-year results... read more
Will Greggs continue charging forward in expansion mode? Last week's announcement seems to say so... read more
Announcements due:
Trading updates: Barr (A.G.) PLC, Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN), Sage Group PLC
Finals: Altitude Group PLC (AIM:ALT), Diageo PLC, Filtronic PLC (LSE:FTC), Games Workshop Group PLC (LSE:GAW)
Interims: Bodycote PLC, BP PLC (LSE:BP.), Croda International PLC (LSE:CRDA), Essentra PLC (LSE:ESNT), Greggs PLC (LSE:GRG), Inchcape PLC (LSE:INCH), Paragon Banking Group PLC (LSE:PAG), Pod Point Group Holdings PLC (LSE:PODP), Sabre Insurance Group PLC (LSE:SBRE), Staffline Group PLC (AIM:STAF), Standard Chartered PLC (LSE:STAN), Spectris PLC (LSE:SXS), ConvaTec Group PLC (LSE:CTEC), Fresnillo PLC (LSE:FRES), St James’s Place PLC. SEPLAT Energy PLC
AGMs: Albion Technology & General VCT PLC, Armadale Capital PLC (AIM:ACP), Aseana Properties Ltd, Cake Box Holdings PLC (AIM:CBOX), Challenger Energy Group PLC (AIM:CEG, OTC:BSHPF), Picton Property Income LD, Proton Motor Power Systems PLC (AIM:PPS), Severfield PLC, Tatton Asset Management PLC (AIM:TAM), Upland Resources (LSE:UPL) Limited, Vodafone Group PLC (LSE:VOD), Record PLC (LSE:REC), Telecom Plus PLC (LSE:TEP)
US earnings: Merck & Co, PayPal Holdings, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Advanced Micro Devices, Arista Networks, Lemonade, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Mondelez, Pinterest, Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX, ETR:SRB)
Economic announcements: Business Climate Indicator (EU), Consumer Confidence (EU), Economic Sentiment Indicator (EU), GDP (Preliminary) (EU), Industrial Confidence (EU), Services Sentiment (EU), House Price Index (US), Consumer Confidence (US)
Wednesday 31 July
GSK is having a tough time with the legal issues surrounding its Zantac litigation, will it affect results... read more
Metro Bank's sale of its mortgage book was welcomed by investors and it will be hoping for a similar response on Wednesday... read more
HSBC Holdings interims mark the swansong of Noel Quinn as chief executive... read more
Like its housebuilding contemporaries, Taylor Wimpey has been well-supported in the market following the Labour Party’s sweeping election victory... read more
Announcements due:
Finals: Hargreaves Services Plc (AIM:HSP, OTC:HGRVF), GRIT Investment Trust PLC (LSE:GRIT), SysGroup PLC (AIM:SYS, AQSE:SYS)
Interims: Creston PLC, Fdm Group (Holdings) PLC, GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK), Hutchmed (China) Limited, HSBC Holdings PLC (LSE:HSBA), International Personal Finance (LSE:IPF) PLC, Metro Bank Holdings PLC (LSE:MTRO), Rathbones Group PLC (LSE:RAT, OTC:RTBBF), Reach PLC (LSE:RCH), Rio Tinto PLC, Shaftesbury Capital PLC, Smurfit Kappa Group plc (LSE:SKG), Taylor Wimpey PLC (LSE:TW.), Conduit Holdings Ltd (LSE:CRE), Endeavour Mining PLC (LSE:EDV, TSX:EDV, OTCQX:EDVMF), Restore Plc (AIM:RST)
Trading updates: Ricardo PLC (LSE:RCDO)
AGMs: Bezant Resources PLC (AIM:BZT), Blackstone GSO Loan Financing, Destiny Pharma PLC, Quantum Blockchain Technologies PLC (AIM:QBT), Revolution Beauty Group PLC, Rockwood Strategic PLC (LSE:RKW), Science In Sport PLC, Xtract Resources PLC (LSE:XTR), First Property Group PLC (AIM:FPO), T42 Lot Tracking Solution PLC
US earnings: Automatic Data Processing, Boeing, Fiverr International, Mastercard, The Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC, ETR:KHNZ), Takeda Pharmaceutical, ARM Holdings, Etsy, Meta Platforms, Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM, ETR:QCI), Teladoc (NYSE:TDOC) Health
Economic announcements: BRC Like-For-Like Retail Sales (UK), Nationwide House Price Index (UK), MBA Mortgage Applications (US), Chicago PMI (US), Crude Oil Inventories (US), FOMC Interest Rate (US)
Thursday 1 August
Rolls-Royce's first-half results are expected to see the engine maker's management upgrade guidance... read more
Next was upgraded from a 'sell' to 'neutral' this month, and an improving backdrop may allow it to push ahead further... read more
Will Shell retain its spot as JP Morgan's favourite versus BP... read more
Analysts aren't expecting much guidance or an upgrade from BAE Systems... read more
Barclays will see plenty of attention on its overseas activities, especially its investment bank... read more
Apple lost more ground in the Chinese smartphone market after the iPhone was knocked out of the top five... read more
Announcements due:
Trading updates: Next PLC (LSE:NXT), NCC Group PLC (LSE:NCC)
Finals: Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust PLC (LSE:HSL)
Interims: Bae Systems PLC, Barclays PLC (LSE:BARC), Capital & Regional PLC (LSE:CAL), Coats Group PLC (LSE:COA), Elementis plc (LSE:ELM), Haleon PLC (LSE:HLN, NYSE:HLN), International Biotechnology Trust PLC, Jardine Matheson Hldgs, London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LSE:LSEG), Mondi PLC (LSE:MNDI), Melrose Industries PLC (LSE:MRO, OTC:MLSPF), Pets at Home Group PLC (LSE:PETS), Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.), Robert Walters PLC (LSE:RWA), Schroders PLC (LSE:SDR), Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL), Smith & Nephew PLC (LSE:SN), Serco Group PLC (LSE:SRP), Vesuvius Plc (LSE:VSVS), Wizz Air Holdings PLC (AIM:WIZZ)
AGM: Caffyns PLC (LSE:CFYN), Duke Royalty Ltd (AIM:DUKE), Paypoint (LSE:PAY) PLC, Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Ltd, Tiger Royalties And Investments PLC, African Pioneer PLC (LSE:AFP), Kendrick Resources PLC (LSE:KEN), UKR Product Group PLC, Volex PLC (AIM:VLX)
US earnings: Ball Corp (NYSE:BALL), Moderna, Roblox, Amazon.com, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, ETR:APC), Block, Cloudflare, Coinbase Global, Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC, ETR:INL), Marathon Digital, MicroStrategy, Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP), Twilio
Ex-dividends to reduce FTSE 100 by: 6.4
Economic announcements: Unemployment Rate (EU), Continuing Claims (US), Initial Jobless Claims (US), PMI Manufacturing(US), Construction Spending (US), ISM Manufacturing (US), ISM Prices Paid (US), Auto Sales (US) PMI Manufacturing (UK), BoE Interest Rate Decision (UK)
Friday 2 August
It has been a mixed bag for international carriers like British Airways-owner IAG... read more
Announcements due:
Trading updates: Virgin Money UK PLC (LSE:VMUK)
Interims: AIB Group PLC (LSE:AIBG), Capita PLC (LSE:CPI), International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A., Intertek Group PLC (LSE:ITRK), Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd
AGMs: Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd
US earnings: Chevron, Exxon Mobil, AMC Entertainment
Economic announcements: Non-Farm Payrolls (US), Unemployment Rate (US), Factory Orders (US)