Week Ahead: G20 and Asean summits set to go ahead without Xi

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Hello and welcome to the working week.

Summits and speeches and the politics involved are our news theme this time around.

The Asean Business Summit begins in Jakarta on Tuesday. World leaders due to address the gathering of Pacific nations include Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida, Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr and, waving the flag for Global Britain, UK premier Rishi Sunak.

International leaders will be gathering again at the end of the week for the G20 Summit in New Delhi, including US president Joe Biden, but not (for the first time at this geopolitical club’s gathering) his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The no-show matters for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata party, who were banking on a political boost from the event ahead of next year’s general election. It is also a missed opportunity for the leaders of the US and China to meet to help cool superpower tensions.

One key bilateral meeting that is now in the diary is between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who are due to hold talks in Sochi on reviving the Black Sea deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to reach world markets.

It is a quieter week for economic and corporate news, partly because of the end of summer US public holiday on Monday.

The smaller than usual group of earnings reports is dominated by British retailers, which should offer a glimpse into how UK consumer confidence is holding up, and housebuilders, reflecting on that other British obsession, the property market. Both Halfords and Currys, reporting on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, sell big-ticket items, typically shunned by shoppers in an economic squeeze. WHSmith, whose focus is on travel hubs, is likely to be upbeat in its call on Wednesday given the big recovery in holiday getaways over the summer.

What is your take on the next seven days? Email me at jonathan.moul[email protected] or if you are reading this from your inbox, hit reply.

One more thing . . . 

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Key economic and company reports

Here is a more complete list of what to expect in terms of company reports and economic data this week.

Monday

• The 25th anniversary of Google being incorporated as a privately held company. The internet search engine business announced the creation of parent company Alphabet as part of a new operating structure in August 2015

• Troubled discount retailer Wilko will make 269 support centre team member roles redundant in Worksop from the close of business today. Administrators PwC have warned of more job losses across the company’s two distribution centres this week

• Germany: trade balance figures

• US: Labor Day holiday. Financial markets closed

• Results: Ashtead Technology H1

Tuesday

• Australia: Australian Reserve Bank rate decision

• EU, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK: S&P Global/Cips August services purchasing managers’ survey (PMI) data

• Singapore: Gastech, a four-day conference bringing together companies in the liquid natural gas, low carbon and climate technology sector, begins today.

• UK: British Retail Consortium KPMG Retail Sales Monitor

• US: monthly factory orders data

• Results: Ashtead Group Q1, DS Smith Q1 trading update & AGM, STV Group H1

Wednesday

• Australia: Q2 GDP figures

• Canada: Bank of Canada rate decision

• UK: S&P Global/Cips August construction PMI data

• US: S&P Global August services PMI data

• Results: Ashmore FY, Barratt Developments FY, Darktrace FY, Halfords Q1 trading update & AGM, Oxford Nanopore Technologies H1, THG H1, WHSmith trading statement

Thursday

• EU: Q2 GDP data

• Germany: industrial production figures

• UK: Halifax House Price Index

• Results: Cairn Homes H1, Currys trading update & AGM, Direct Line H1, Funding Circle H1, Hilton Foods H1, Lloyd’s of London H1, Melrose Industries H1

Friday

• Germany: final August consumer price index (CPI) and harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) inflation rate figures

• Japan: revised Q2 GDP figures

• Results: Berkeley Group trading update & AGM, Computacenter H1, Kroger Q2

World events

Finally, here is a rundown of other events and milestones this week.

Monday

• Russia: president Vladimir Putin is expected to meet Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Sochi, to discuss reviving the Black Sea grain deal

• UK: House of Commons and House of Lords return after the summer recess, enabling a writ to be published for the Mid Bedfordshire by-election triggered by the long-delayed resignation of former culture secretary Nadine Dorries

Tuesday

• Indonesia: regional prime ministers and heads of state arrive in Jakarta to address the Asean Business & Investment Summit

• UK: NHS waiting time statistics published

Wednesday

• UK: Royal Institute of British Architects announces the shortlist of six buildings for this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize

• US: arraignment of former president Donald Trump in Georgia on charges of violation of the racketeer influence and corrupt organisations law, solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer and other charges

Thursday

• Japan: Bank of Japan board member Junko Nakagawa to deliver a speech and hold a news conference in Kochi

• UK: City of London due to publish blueprint to boost competitiveness by 2030

Friday

Saturday

• India: two-day G20 Summit in New Delhi begins

• Maldives: presidential election

• North Korea: Independence Day, this year commemorating the 75th anniversary of the country’s founding with Kim Il Sung as premier

• UK: Last Night of the Proms broadcast live from London’s Royal Albert Hall

Sunday

• Russia: local elections, with polls open in invaded Ukrainian provinces

• UK: TUC Congress begins in Liverpool