It is the week before Christmas and as is the tradition not much is stirring or scheduled to.
Economic news will likely be the main focus as Omicron and inflation dominate headlines, though the releases scheduled will be nothing like the events of the past few days.
A final read for UK GDP in the quarter to September comes out of Wednesday with the preliminary figures showing a slowdown to 1.3% from 5.5% in the three months previously.
The consensus is for no change to the flash GDP figure of 1.3%.
But this is all before Omicron and as the largest contributors in quarter three's improvement were hospitality, arts and recreation and health its relevance to where we stand today might be questionable with restaurants and pubs already closing a week before Christmas due to a lack of customers.
“It has been a poor start to December for the sector. Recovery has taken a significant step back and we can expect sales numbers to dip even further below pre-pandemic levels,” said Jonny Jones, hospitality research group CGA’s managing director for UK and Ireland.
In the US, Thursday sees the crucial personal consumption expenditure (PCE) deflators, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauges.
According to BDSwiss, "The headline PCE deflator is forecast to leap to 5.7% yoy, the highest since July 1982, while the core measure, the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge, is expected to rise to 4.5% yoy, the highest since March 1989.".
Both would be way above the Fed’s 2% target, confirming the idea that inflation is out of hand, it adds.
Gore Street
Few UK-based companies put out updates in a pre-Christmas week, but some are prepared to brave the extra attention that comes from such a thin schedule.
Gore Street on Monday is one facing the spotlight and it should have some interesting things to say.
The battery investor has been growing like topsy recently and with this winter’s energy chaos underlining how badly the renewables sector needs a storage option that seems unlikely to change.
The company raised £74mln in October to help make the most of the opportunities, with a pipeline now covering Europe and the US as well as the UK and Ireland.
How the development projects are going and what the pipeline is looking like are things to look for.
US firms seem less worried about the upcoming holiday period with a host of big names reporting next week.
Earnings are due from Micron Technology and Nike on Monday, Cheerios, Haagen-Dazs and General Mills (NYSE:GIS) on Tuesday, Winnebago on Wednesday, and Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) on Thursday.
Semiconductor shortages have been a theme since midway through the year and Micron should give some insight into how things stand now.
The Idaho-based firm makes memory chips and USB flash drives and how it sees its position on the sector's traditional cycle of boom and bust will be worth noting.
Analysts are forecasting sales of US$7.7bn down 7% quarter-on-quarter but up by a third on a year ago.
Week ahead 20/12/2021
Monday
Interims- Gore Street Energy Storage Fund PLC (LSE:GSF)
AGMs- Aberdeen Latin American Income Fund Ltd, Cambium Global Timberland (AIM:TREE) Ltd, Plexus Holdings PLC (AIM:POS)
Trading announcements- Rightmove house price index (UK)
Tuesday
Finals- Titon Holdings plc
Trading update- Cheerios, Haagen-Dazs
AGMs- Go Ahead Group (LSE:GOG), Lekoil Ltd, Northamber Plc
Economic data- Gross Domestic Product (UK), Public Sector Net Borrowing (UK), Current Account (US)
Wednesday
AGMs- Conroy Gold and Natural Resources PLC (AIM:CGNR), dotDigital Group plc, Karelian Diamond Resources, Macau Property Opportunities Fund, Parkmead Group plc, Revolution Bars Group PLC (AIM:RBG).
Economic data- Current Account (UK), Gross Domestic Product (UK), MBA Mortgage Applications (US), Gross Domestic Product (US), Personal Consumption Expenditures (US), Existing Home Sales (US), Crude Oli Inventories (US)
Thursday
AGMs- Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd, China Noferrous Gold Limited, Orosur Mining Inc, SkinBioTherapeutics plc
Economic data- Continuing Claims (US), Initial Jobless Claims (US), Personal Consumption Expenditures (US), Personal Income (US), Personal Spending (US), New Holes Sales (US) US durable goods orders (US)
Friday
Interims- Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund (LSE:SEQI) Ltd,
AGMs- Abingdon Health Limited, Origo Partners Plc
Economic data- U. of Michigan Confidence (US)