The City diary’s main highlights in the week ahead are Tesco and JD Sports, though potential tariff to-and-froing by UK and other governments could dominate the news for markets if such dealmaking happens.
There’s various economic data that could also move the dial, including the US official jobs report on Friday, which may show the first effects from Elon Musk’s ‘DOGE’ cuts.
Two housing market updates and monthly GDP numbers are the main macro items focused on the UK.
Monday 7 April
Announcements due:
Interims: Applied Nutrition
US earnings: Levi Strauss & Co
Economic announcements: Halifax House Price Index (UK), Balance of Trade (GER), Industrial Production (GER), Retail Sales (EU)
Tuesday 8 April
Hilton Food announces final results with its shares around one-year lows, with investor interest in the meat packing group seemingly unchanged by the freshly agreed merger between distant sector peers Greencore and Bakkavor.
Announcements due:
Finals: Hilton Food Group, JTC Plc, Property Franchise Group, Staffline Group
US earnings: Tilray Brands
Wednesday 9 April
A trading update from JD Sports is much anticipated after its shares were sent spiralling to almost an eight-year low by US tariff worries and UK consumer concerns…read more
Announcements due:
Trading update: JD Sports Fashion Plc
Finals: Audioboom Group Plc, Churchill China Plc, Epwin Group Plc, Oxford Biomedica Plc, Saga Plc
US earnings: Constellation Brands, Delta Air Lines
Economic announcements: MBA Mortgage Applications (US), Crude Oil Inventories (US), Wholesales Inventories (US), FOMC Interest Rate Minutes (US)
Thursday 10 April
Tesco shares hit a seven-month low in the wake of a bullish update from rival Asda, but have been fighting back in the run-up to results…read more
US consumer price inflation will be of some interest to traders, though with the previous week's 'liberation day' tariffs announcement, this number might be a bit moot.
Announcements due:
Finals: Brave Bison Group Plc, Hvivo Plc, Inspecs Group Plc, Tesco Plc
Overseas earnings: CarMax Inc, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co
Economic announcements: RICS Housing Market Survey (UK), Consumer Price Index (US), Continuing Claims (US), Initial Jobless Claims (US)
Ex-dividends to reduce the FTSE 100 by: 12.36 (mostly from 5.25 for Lloyds Banking Group, 3.42 for Reckitt Benckiser and 2.61 for Aviva, also Howden, St James’s Place, Croda, F&C Inv Trust)
Friday 11 April
The traditional start of the US earnings season is via the banking sector, which is led on Friday by JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo, whose CEOs will have a chance to opine on the new US tariffs.
UK economic growth will also be in the spotlight, with February's GDP and associated services and industrial sector data and the pre-US-tariff trade balance.
The GDP report is likely to show output unchanged month-to-month, Pantheon Macroeconomics predicted, after national growth fell 0.1% in January.
If so, GDP will have risen only twice on a month-to-month basis since September, with February’s data expected to be weighed down by falling industrial production as trade uncertainty saps confidence.
Announcements due:
Interims: Nanoco Group Plc
US earnings: JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, BlackRock, The Bank Of New York Mellon Corp
Economic announcements: Balance of Trade (UK), Gross Domestic Product (UK), Index of Services (UK), Industrial Production (UK), Manufacturing Production (UK), Consumer Price Index (GER), Producer Price Index (US)