What’s Happening Next Week?

This story features ORICA LIMITED, and other companies. For more info SHARE ANALYSIS: ORI

By Chris Shaw

Queenslanders enjoy a public holiday on Monday but there is no rest with respect to economic announcements next week, the FNArena calendar showing a swag of releases are expected over the next seven days.

A number of the announcements will be related to the Australian economy with Monday delivering the latest inflation gauge from TD Securities, March quarter house price numbers and April job ads. On Tuesday the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) makes its latest decision on interest rates and March building approval data are released along with the latest performance of services data, while March trade and retail sales data will be out on Wednesday.

Thursday will see an update on the state of the Australian labour market and AiG construction index numbers, while on Friday the RBA provides its latest quarterly statement on monetary policy. Across in New Zealand there will be March quarter private wages data out on Monday, ANZ commodity prices for April on Tuesday and March quarter unemployment data on Thursday.

Little data will be coming out of Japan next week with only Bank of Japan minutes expected on Thursday, while in China there should be manufacturing PMI numbers for April out on Monday (both the official one and CLSA’s).

Turning to Europe, Monday should see the release of PMI manufacturing data for April and investor confidence for May along with the European Commission’s latest economic forecasts, while Tuesday will see the release of March PPI numbers. On Wednesday there will be March retail sales and April PMI data, while the highlight on Thursday will be the latest rate decision from the European Central Bank.

On the same day the Bank of England will announce its latest action with respect to interest rates, which will follow April PMI construction and consumer confidence releases on Tuesday and PMI services data for April out on Wednesday. On Friday April PPI numbers for the UK will be released.

In the US there will be pending home sales data and construction spending for March out on Monday, while it is also the expected release date for results of the latest stress test for US banks. On Tuesday there will be ISM manufacturing data for April and the latest consumer confidence numbers, while on Wednesday there will be the latest employment and mortgage application figures.

Along with initial jobless claims data on Thursday, there will be non-farm productivity and unit labour cost numbers for the March quarter as well as March consumer credit figures, while on Friday there will be April employment and change in non-farm payroll data.

In terms of Australian corporate announcements next week there will be earnings results from the likes of Orica ((ORI)), Westpac ((WBC)) and Sims Group ((SGM)), while Goodman Fielder ((GFF)) will provide a strategic update on operations and annual general meetings will be held by Santos ((STO)), Lihir ((LGL)) and Westfield ((WDC)), amongst others.

With respect to dividends the major one is ANZ Bank ((ANZ)) going ex a 46c payout on Thursday, while Alcoa ((AAI)), Anglo Pacific Group ((AGP)), CTI Logistics ((CLX)), Supply Network ((SNL)) and Henderson Group ((HGG)) also go ex during the week.

For more information: see the FNArena calendar on the website (updated regularly) and Monday’s The Week Ahead.

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