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Here are some of the big stories we’ll be watching this week the bank of england will announce its latest decision on interest rates the european council is set to ratify the eu japan free-trade agreement and we’ll have 2nd quarter results from fed ex and mike first up the bank of england will announce its latest interest rate decision on thursday this underpins
Interest rates across the uk the announcement comes just days after uk labor market data revealed the british wages are growing at an annual rate of 3.3% consumers also spent freely over the hot summer months in a positive sign for the uk economy in august the bank of england responded by raising interest rates to nought point seven five percent the highest they’ve
Been since the financial crisis but as our economics editor chris jones explains uncertainty around brexit is likely to halt any further rate rises for now the positive mood in the uk economy has damped down quite a bit this autumn we had a very strong summer in the uk economy particularly people going out and spending in very very good weather now the latest data
Suggests that in the autumn consumers are much more cautious but if this is just a brexit uncertainty issue and if that uncertainty were to clear quite soon then you might expect the economy to start growing faster again and again the bank of england i think in those circumstances would be quite quick to raise interest rates up to one percent still not a very high
Level but they would want to show that they are getting a grip with inflationary pressure in the uk economy the european council is poised to sign off an eu japan free-trade agreement this week the deal between two of the world’s biggest economic bloc’s will strengthen the roles of brussels and takecare in setting global product standards following us president
Donald trump’s withdraw from the trans-pacific partnership trade deal in 2017 this agreement also signals the eu and japan’s commitment to global free trade the ft is robin harding has this analysis seoul has political significance for both sides exposing japanese farmers to foreign competition is supposed to drive improvement in a very inefficient sector of
The japanese economy for brussels this shows the eu get trade deals done after its struggle to ratify a similar agreement with canada the big question is what comes next for global trade the u.s. is still pushing for concessions from all sides but with the web of free trade agreements now linking the eu japan canada and others on exciting possibility for the
Future is bringing them all together in some way now to the united states where fedex will post second quarter results on tuesday investors will be keeping a close eye on the company’s performance as it reacts to market turbulence and a deepening trade war between china in the united states there is also cause for concern closer to home the surprise retirement
Of david cunningham head of fedex express could spell trouble for the company’s largest division as mum to petco reports parcel delivery company fedex which is considered an economic bellwether reports results at a time when fears of a global economic slowdown away our markets now headed into the quarter the company had assumed moderate growth and stability in
Global trade and its forecasts and investors will watch for updates on these assumptions when fedex reports results investors will also pay close attention to the company’s express unit which is its largest division earlier this week the company announced the surprise exit of the head of fedex is expressed business and some analysts suggested that this could
Signal a reduction or delay in its profit improvement target any commentary on the impact of amazon’s delivery network will also be closely watched and finally naik will publish earnings results this week the company’s performance over the second quarter will reveal how night’s customers responded to a controversial advertising campaign launched in august the just
Do it campaign featured former american football star colin kaepernick who now joined the u.s. national anthem in protest against police brutality knights customers reacted strongly to the brands choice of kaepernick with many taken to social media to express their feelings the ft s peter wells has more one of the most interesting thing about nike earnings this
Week is that this is the colin kaepernick quarter so that’s one thing that investors will be looking out for whether there is a bump or any loss of sales as a result of that decision the other key thing is just overall sales momentum in the north american market nike for most of 2018 financial year had seen sales sliding as it lost ground to its main competitor
Added us which has been putting out lines of it’s interesting and popular yeezy sneakers from kanye west but in the first quarter of 2019 they managed to see positive salesmen mention in the american market and investors will be keen to see whether that momentum can be maintained in a year ahead and that’s what the week ahead looks like from the financial times in london
Transcribed from video
Bank of England interest rate decision, EU-Japan trade deal By Financial Times
