THE WEEK AHEAD
COMPANY NEWS
● Betfair Group will announce its interim results tomorrow. The sports-focused online gambling exchange is betting on seeing the numbers in their favour.
● Domino Printing Sciences will announce its preliminary results tomorrow. The company is lasered in on industrial printing equipment. Carpetright, Britain’s largest carpet retailer, will also roll out its preliminary results tomorrow.
● Sports Direct International and SuperGroup will both announce their half year results on Thursday. The results may also give some indication of how the two retail groups might perform over the crucial Christmas period.
ECONOMICS
● The board of governors of the US Federal Reserve Bank will release their interest rate decision tomorrow. The rate is likely to be maintained at 0.25 per cent, having remained fixed since December 2008.
● The Swiss National Bank will announce its interest rate decision on Thursday. The rate was lowered to 0 per cent in August from 0.25 per cent. It will be a busy day, with the European Central Bank publishing its monthly report and Eurozone CPI figures also released.
● On Friday, the US Department of Labor Statistics will release the Consumer Price Index (excluding food and energy) inflation figures.
POLITICAL NEWS
● The United States is seeking to refresh the Israeli-Palestinian peace process this week by meeting with other Middle East mediators, including Russia, the EU and the UN. At this point, the mood and expectations are pessimistic with few expecting much success beyond the reopening of negotiations – a meaningful resolution remains very unlikely.
● Greece will hold talks with its international creditors this week to discuss its debt repayment strategy. The Greek government opened new bonds in Brussels two weeks ago and is aiming to persuade creditors to agree to a 50 per cent bond write-down in order to make the debt repayment process more sustainable.