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The Markets
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The Markets
by Proactive
Proactive UK has moved.
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The Markets
by Proactive
Proactive UK has moved.
Small-cap coverage continues on .com
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Bank of England, Fed, Wetherspoons, Carnival, Trustpilot, Prudential - the week ahead

For UK investors, the Bank of England monetary policy meeting on Thursday looms largest in the coming week, though there will be a healthy buzz of financial results from London-listed companies through the rest of the week.

More important from a global markets perspective, the US Federal Reserve will also be announcing a monetary policy update on Wednesday, though are expected to stand fire, similar to the BoE and the central banks of China, Russia, Japan, Sweden and South Africa.

Other central bank meetings are also taking place, with a cautious tone likely to be seen as the Swiss National Bank cuts rates, with only the Bank of Brazil expected to raise interest rates this week.

Company announcements in the week include Prudential PLC (LSE:PRU), Close Brothers Group PLC (LSE:CBG), Trustpilot Group PLC (LSE:TRST), JD Wetherspoon PLC (LSE:JDW) and Carnival PLC (LSE:CCL).

There are also earnings from several US-listed names, including Nike, and Accenture, plus some Chinese tech giants listed on Wall Street, including Temu owner PDD and Tesla rivals Xpeng and NIO,

Monday 17 March

Announcements due:

Interims: Beeks Financial Cloud Group PLC, Eagle Eye Solutions Group PLC

Finals: Alpha Group International PLC, BATM Advanced Communications, Diversified Energy Company PLC, Marshalls PLC, SigmaRoc PLC

US earnings: Science Applications International Corporation

AGMs: Hercules Site Services PLC, Schroder European Real Estate Investment Trust PLC

Economic news: Industrial Production (China), Retail Sales (China), Retail Sales (US)

Tuesday 18 March

Close Brothers investors will be braced for provisions for the ongoing motor finance inquiry but these results are far from the end of the story...read more

Trustpilot shares have been on the slide in the run up to results, but some analysts see no reason for the underperformance versus the rest of the sector...read more

Announcements due:

Interims: Close Brothers Group PLC, Eagle Eye Solutions Group PLC

Finals: Atalaya Mining PLC, Computacenter PLC, Fintel PLC, Genel Energy PLC, H&T Group PLC, Harworth Group PLC, Light Science Technologies Holdings PLC, Midwich Group PLC, Mortgage Advice Bureau (Holdings) Ltd, Pebble Group PLC, RM PLC, Sabre Insurance Group PLC, Sig PLC, Trustpilot Group PLC, Workspace Group PLC, YU Group PLC

US earnings: Xpeng Inc, Tencent Music

AGMs: Gresham House Renewable Energy

Economic news: Balance of Trade (EU), ZEW Economic Sentiment (EU), Building Permits (US), Housing Starts (US), Industrial Production (US), Business Inventories (US)

Wednesday 19 March

The Federal Reserve will announce their interest rate decision, with markets expecting a zero chance of a rate change meaning spotlight will be fully on the US central bank's latest economic data projections and governor Jerome Powell’s press conference.

The Fed's new 'dot plot', showing the FOMC members’ latest projections for interest rates in the coming meetings, will be released, following the December chart showing a mild loosening of monetary policy in the coming years and a median interest rates this year of 3.9%.

Before that announcement, results from London-listed companies will include Prudential and M&G, with the former having lifted its shares last month with a proposed exit from an Indian JV.

Announcements due:

Finals: Advanced Medical Solutions Group PLC, Essentra PLC, FDM Group PLC, Hutchmed (China) Ltd, Judges Scientific PLC, M&G PLC, Prudential PLC

US earnings: PDD Holdings, General Mills, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Sportradar Group

AGMs: LPA Group PLC, Safestore Holdings PLC

Economic news: Federal Reserve Decision (US), FOMC Economic Projections (US)

Thursday 20 March

The Bank of England meeting is expected to see interest rates held steady at 4.50%, following last month's cut, though last time saw a 'dovish' split of the vote, with two members of the monetary policy committee voting for a larger cut.

Markets are currently pricing a 75% chance of a rate cut at May's meeting and a 55% chance of a third cut in August.

Announcements due:

Trading updates: Bloomsbury Publishing, Sanderson Design Group

Finals: Central Asia Metals, Energean, Eurocell, Foresight Solar Fund Ltd, Hostelworld Group, James Fisher & Sons

US earnings: Accenture, Nike, Micron, Fedex, Lululemon, Darden Restaurants, Factset Research

AGMs: BlackRock Energy & Resources Income Trust, Helix Exploration, Nuformix

Economic news: Unemployment (UK), Payrolls Change (UK), Claimant Count (UK), CBI Industrial Trends (UK), Bank of England Decision (UK), Existing Home Sales (US), Initial Jobless Claims (US), Philly Fed Manufacturing Index (US)

Ex-dividends to reduce FTSE 100 by: 1.34 (Hikma, Pearson, Beazley)

Friday 21 March

JD Wetherspoon reports half-year results, which it said earlier this year would be affected by a slight slowing of sales growth at its pubs over the second quarter and argued the full-year outlook was hard to forecast...read more

Elsewhere, cruise operator Carnival reports final results, with its shares having fallen by more than a quarter since it posted record results at the end of last year...read more

Announcements due:

Interims: JD Wetherspoon PLC

Finals: Carnival PLC and Corporation, Ceres Power Holdings PLC

US earnings: NIO Inc

AGMs: Faron Pharmaceuticals, HSBC Holdings

Economic news: GfK Consumer Confidence (UK), Public Sector Borrowing (UK), Baker Hughes Oil Rig Count (US)

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