For Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY), which is due to post a quarterly update on Thursday, an economic downturn is worse for business than for peers like Barclays and HSBC that have less of a focus on traditional banking in the UK.
Investors and analysts will be keeping an eye on impairment charges as the bank prepares for more people defaulting on their loan repayments (read the Lloyds preview here), while the lender became the first in the industry to stop direct finance for new oil and gas development.
Unilever PLC (LSE:ULVR) investors might have taken confidence from reading across from international sector peers Nestle and Procter & Gamble, which indicated they were successfully passing on price rises to consumers.
However, analysts fear that with inflation continuing to rise, there will come a breaking point (see the Unilever and Reckitt preview here).
Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) earlier this month warned that third-quarter profits would be hit by a near halving in refining margins, falling chemical margins and weaker trading in its Integrated Gas (IG) business.
Analysts at UBS calculated there could be a decline of US$1.3-2.0bn quarter on quarter compared to the consensus for a decrease of US$0.4bn.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) (Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)) faces numerous challenges leading up to its year-end earnings call on Friday.
The recent iPhone 14 launch was mixed, while discretionary spending is being slashed due to inflation (read the full Apple preview).
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) (Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)) has given guidance for third-quarter revenues rising to between US$125bn and US$130bn, but a bigger question will be if made another loss.
Comments by founder Jeff Bezos may have given a good insight into the outlook too, while there are many other questions that could be answered (see full Amazon preview).
US third-quarter gross domestic product will also be in focus, with the economy currently coming off the back of two negative quarters, or in other words a technical recession.
GDP for Q3 is expected to show a rebound of 2.2%, with most of the rebound expected to come about on the back of inventory rebuilding.
Significant announcements on Thursday
Trading updates: AVEVA Group PLC, Inchcape PLC (LSE:INCH) (Inchcape PLC (LSE:INCH)), Indivior PLC (LSE:INDV) (Indivior PLC (LSE:INDV)), Lloyds Banking Group PLC (Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY)), PPhE Hotel Group Ltd, Renishaw PLC (LSE:RSW) (Renishaw PLC (LSE:RSW)), Shell PLC (Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL), Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL)), Unilever PLC (Unilever PLC (LSE:ULVR))
Interims: Airtel Africa PLC (LSE:AAF) (Airtel Africa PLC (LSE:AAF)), Harbourvest Global Private Equity
AGMs: Alumasc Group PLC (AIM:ALU) (Alumasc Group PLC (AIM:ALU)), Anglesey Mining PLC (AIM:AYM) (Anglesey Mining PLC (AIM:AYM)), Brooks Macdonald Group, City of London Investment Trust (LSE:CTY) (City of London Investment Trust (LSE:CTY)), Filtronic PLC (LSE:FTC) (Filtronic PLC (LSE:FTC)), Ovoca Bio (AIM:OVB) (Ovoca Bio (AIM:OVB)) PLC, Pci-Pal PLC, Real Good Food PLC (LSE:RGD) (Real Good Food PLC (LSE:RGD)), South32 Ltd (LSE:S32, ASX:S32, OTC:SHTLF, JSE:S32) (South32 Ltd (LSE:S32, ASX:S32, OTC:SHTLF, JSE:S32), South32 Ltd (LSE:S32, ASX:S32, OTC:SHTLF, JSE:S32), South32 Ltd (LSE:S32, ASX:S32, OTC:SHTLF, JSE:S32), South32 Ltd (LSE:S32, ASX:S32, OTC:SHTLF, JSE:S32)), TheWorks.co.uk PLC (LSE:WRKS) (TheWorks.co.uk PLC (LSE:WRKS)), Tufton Oceanic Assets Ltd (LSE:SHPP) (Tufton Oceanic Assets Ltd (LSE:SHPP))
Economic announcements: Continuing Claims (US), Durable Goods Orders (US), Gross Domestic Product (US), Initial Jobless Claims (US), Personal Consumption Expenditures (US)
US earnings Thursday: Amazon, Apple, Caterpillar Inc, Gilead Sciences, Intel Corp, Keuring Dr Pepper, Mastercard, Merck & Co, Shopify, Takeda Pharmaceutical