Tuesday will be a new day but the same stories, with more fallout from the coronavirus pandemic for different companies.
The US Federal Reserve had been scheduled to begin a policy meeting but this has been cancelled after emergency measures were unfurled over the weekend.
There will be UK labour market data for January will be released mid-morning, but while it may be of interest to economists and the Bank of England, has been made largely irrelevant by the spread of Covid-19 since.
On the corporate agenda, FTSE 100 copper giant Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) is due to publish its final results, though the focus will be on the here and now and the new few months, rather than the last year.
'Fags' has already reported its 2019 top-line numbers and given 2020 guidance for production levels and cash costs, leaving only profits, dividends and the outlook for 2020 as the areas of interest.
Analysts on average expect EBITDA of US$2.46bn and net debt of US$0.7bn.
With investors likely to be looking for comments from management over any visible impact on their business from the Covid-19 outbreak, analysts at Peel Hunt said: “Focus will likely be on the potential for disrupted shipments to Asian customers, but we would also expect management to identify and discuss their own containment plans to ensure should an outbreak hit one (or more) of their sites.”
Ferguson to update on demerger and US listing plans
At plumbing and heating group Ferguson PLC (LON:FERG) it's half-year results time and, as well as coronavirus, the main interest is likely to be on any updates on the group’s planned demerger of its UK business, Wolseley.
There may be hints around whether the firm will choose to pursue a listing in the US following the demerger, with the company set to make a final decision in the spring.
As a result of this, the key focus in the numbers themselves will be the performance of the US business as well as the company’s outlook for the territory going forward.
Analysts at UBS expect first-half revenues of US$11bn, with second-quarter like-for-likes up 2.1%, feeding through to underlying profit (EBITA) up 2.6% to US$815mln - all still including the UK.
“Key will be outlook, which we expect to be highly uncertain due to Covid-1.”
Can Softcat protect against viruses?
Softcat PLC (LON:SCT) reports half-year results in the wake of a confident update from fellow IT distributor Computacenter last week.
FTSE 250-listed Softcat's last update, in November, said revenue, gross profit and operating profit were all up in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.
“Customer numbers and gross profit per customer were both up on the prior period, and we again saw growth across all areas of technology and customer segments,” said chief executive Graeme Watt.
Peel Hunt expect "strong traction" for the half year, including heightened volumes in recent weeks, but said “all eyes will be on H2 guidance where we expect the company, given the lack of any visibility, to stay very conservative”.
Computacenter flagged what some might deem panic buying by companies to prepare for more employees working from home.
"We think any weakness will create a buying opportunity for the long-term holder given the strength of its balance sheet to weather more than one Covid-19 outbreak," the Peel Hunt analysts said.
Significant announcements expected on Tuesday 17 March:
Finals: Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO), ContourGlobal PLC (LON:GLO), Gamma Communications PLC (LON:GAMA), Genel Energy PLC (LON:GENL), Harworth Group PLC (LON:HWG), Kape Technologies PLC (LON:KAPE), Polypipe Group PLC (LON:PLP), Smart Metering Systems PLC (LON:SMS), TI Fluid Systems PLC (LON:TIFS), Tritax Big Box REIT PLC (LON:BBOX), Vectura Group PLC (LON:VEC)
Interims: Ferguson PLC (LON:FERG), Softcat PLC (LON:SCT), ScS Group PLC (LON:SCS), Litigation Capital Management Ltd (LON:LIT)
Economic data: UK unemployment, US retail sales