THE EUROPEAN Central Bank will meet on Thursday to discuss euro zone interest rates. Rates are expected to be left unchanged, but the press conference following the meeting will be closely watched for the ECB council’s latest view on the economic outlook. The Department of Finance is due to publish the exchequer returns to the end of July on Wednesday, while live register figures will be released by the Central Statistics Office on Friday. Meanwhile the second quarter earnings season will continue to provide direction to markets this week.
MONDAY
Bank holiday in Ireland (the Irish Stock Exchange remains open for trading).
Results: Barclays; Panasonic.
Indicators: EU purchasing manager index manufacturing (July); US construction spending (June), ISM manufacturing (July) and vehicle sales (July); UK purchasing manager index manufacturing (July) and Halifax house prices (July); German retail sales (June); Australian ANZ job advertisements (July); Japanese labour cash earnings (June).
TUESDAY
Results: Archer Daniels Midland; Avis Budget; Beiersdorf; BMW; BNP Paribas; Gartner; Hewitt Associates; Kraft Foods; Mitsui; Toyota; Whole Foods Market; William Hill.
Indicators: EU PPI (June); US personal income (June) and pending home sales (June); UK NIESR gross domestic product estimate (three months to July).
WEDNESDAY
Results: Allied Irish Banks; AXA; Benetton; Chorus ntl; Cisco; Garmin; Paddy Power; Premier Foods; Procter Gamble; Shire; Societe Generale; Sunoco; Tesco.
Indicators: European Union market services PMI (July), retail sales (June); Irish exchequer balance (to end of July); US ADP employment (July), factory orders (June) and ISM non-manufacturing PMI (July); UK CIPS services PMI (July), industrial production (June) and nationwide consumer confidence (July).
Other:Chorus ntl will officially launch high definition TV in Ireland.
THURSDAY
Results: Aviva; Blue Nile; Brightpoint; Chiquita; Crocs; Gold Fields; K-Swiss; KBC; Kenneth Cole; The Blackstone Group; Thomson Reuters; Unilever; Warner; Wendy's; Zurich Life (Eagle Star Life)
Indicators: European Central Bank interest rate announcement; Irish national income and expenditure (2008) and overseas travel (June); US Initial Jobless Claims (week ending August 1st); UK Bank of England rate announcement; German industrial orders (June); Italian industrial production (June); Japanese leading indicators (June).
FRIDAY
Results: Allianz; Logica; Puma; Royal Bank of Scotland.
I ndicators:Irish live register (July) and earnings and labour costs (quarter one); US non-farm payrolls (July) and Consumer Credit (June); UK PPI input (July); German industrial production (June) and trade balance (June); Italian preliminary gross domestic product (quarter two).
