On Monday, we’ll pick up on the fallout from Italy’s sloppy right following the end of a viciously aggressive election campaign. The Financial Times has gone in for a big read on what proper governance means for the rest of Europe.
This week we have elections in Latvia, Bulgaria, Kuwait and Bosnia and Herzegovina. But the biggest Sunday will be the first round of the presidential election in Brazil. Left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is leading the race, while incumbent Jair Bolsonaro is far from the race. The tension is rising.
A small but significant vote will take place on Thursday as the City of London’s chief executive decides the next Lord Mayor. This largely procedural act will be key to promoting the UK’s financial centre, so it is important. Hopefully the election won’t be as contentious as last year.
In addition to the election, it’s a strong week for space travel. On Monday, NASA will crash into an asteroid at 23,000 km/h to change its orbit. The $300mn Dart mission, short for the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, chose Dimorphos as its target because it orbits an asteroid other than the Sun.
The US space agency will be busy the next day with the launch of Artemis 1, the first in a series of complex missions to establish a permanent human base on the Moon.
If that wasn’t encouraging enough, the week marks the return of the London Marathon, six months after the usual April race to take place after the chaos caused by the pandemic.
Companies
Continuing the theme of the game, Lego (The name comes from a Danish phrase. I hope you will be well, or “Play Well”) will report half-year results on Wednesday. The toy has led analysts to expect a normalization of sales after the development of the epidemic, but sales are expected to continue higher than rivals in the sector.
For oilheads, Thursday is a fun day because it’s shared. Porsche The long-awaited float of the luxury car brand will debut on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
It’s more of a Sambar week for silver screen lovers. Ailing movie theater chain Cineworld It will announce its half-year results on Friday. Although the group is expected to make a profit in contrast to last year’s losses, the focus will turn to its latest cash position and net debt levels after the company filed for US bankruptcy protection earlier this month.
Economic data
This will be a week to find out how economies are doing and what the public expects, with gross domestic product figures from the US, Canada and the UK, as well as several consumer confidence surveys.
With the release of consumer price index and producer price index readings from Germany, France and Italy, we will get more insights into Europe’s battle to stabilize inflation.
Read the full week ahead calendar here.
