Start of the Paris Olympics and Netanyahu goes to Washington

Hello and welcome to the working week.

To start with some good news, we have the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics coming up on Friday. As Simon Kuper noted in our weekend essay, behind the Olympics is the “Grand Paris” project, a massive public works undertaking that aims to make the city less of an island of elitism. The opening ceremony along the Seine on Friday will mark the debut of phase 1 of the project. So even if you’re not a sport fan, there will be plenty of politics packed into the ceremony and the Games for you to keep an eye on.

There’s also a generous helping of notable political happenings in the US this week. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be in Washington, where he has been invited by Republican Speaker Mike Johnson to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Netanyahu will talk about, “establishing just and lasting peace in the region”, among other things, according to the Speaker’s office.

Before that, he is due to meet Joe Biden at the White House on Monday, so long as the US president has recovered from his bout of Covid-19. Netanyahu will be travelling to the US with pressure mounting at home and abroad to agree a ceasefire deal with Hamas, brokered by the US.

On Wall Street, a few notable names are set to report their results for the second quarter. Look out for Alphabet, Tesla and Spotify on Tuesday. On Wednesday banking heavyweights including Santander and Deutsche Bank are set to report. Lloyds will report on Thursday, and to finish the week, NatWest has interim results on Friday.

It’s also worth keeping an eye on AT&T, which reports earnings on Wednesday, a week after its announcement of a hack that exposed information on “nearly all” of its cellular customers. Thursday will have Anglo American reporting its interim results, which will offer a look at the company following the failed takeover bid by BHP.

One more thing . . . 

I think I’m good at using Microsoft programs such as Word. If you’re feeling bold, you might even say you Excel. But are you skilled enough to win an international competition? The Certiport Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship on Sunday is for students to compete against each other in who can make the best use of Microsoft’s programs.

Key economic and company reports

Here is a more complete list of what to expect in terms of company reports and economic data this week.

Monday

• UK: Office for National Statistics releases its households’ finances and savings report

• Netherlands: House price index for June

• World Trade Organization general meeting in Geneva

• Results: Ryanair Q1, Verizon Communications Q2

Tuesday

• UK: Scottish Widows publishes its annual retirement report

• Egypt: Revolution day, financial markets closed

• India: Budget presentation by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman

• Hungary: Interest rate decision

• Results: Alphabet Q2, Banco Sabadell Q2, Capital One Q2, Coca-Cola Q2, Comcast Q2, Logitech Q1, Mattel Q2, Moody’s Q2, Tesla Q2, General Motors Q2, Lockheed Martin Q2, Philip Morris International Q2, Spotify Q2, Texas Instruments Q2, Visa Q3

Wednesday

• Canada: Interest rate announcement. In June the country was the first of the G7 nations to lower interest rates in the current cycle. Inflation data released last week was better than expected, paving the way for the bank to cut rates again

• UK: flash PMI by S&P Global

• International Energy Agency publishes its mid-year market report on coal

• Results: Aston Martin Lagonda interim results, AT&T Q2, Banco Santander Q2, BNP Paribas Q2, Chipotle Q2, Deutsche Bank Q2, easyJet Q3, Ford Motor Q2, General Dynamics Q2, IBM Q2

Thursday

• Brazil: Meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors begins in Rio de Janeiro

• UK: Institute for Fiscal Studies publishes its report on living standards, poverty and inequality

• US: Commerce department publishes US GDP data for Q2

• Results: American Airlines Q2, Anglo American interim results, AstraZeneca interim results, British American Tobacco interim results, BT Group trading update, Centrica interim results, Dow Q2, Fujitsu Q1, Hasbro Q2, Honeywell International Q2, Lloyds Banking Group interim results, Nasdaq Q2, Nestlé H1, Nissan Q1, Northrop Grumman Q2, PG&E Q2, Sanofi Q2, Stellantis H1, Unilever Q2

Friday

• Russia: The board of directors for the country’s central bank meets to discuss monetary policy issues. It will also publish a medium-term forecast for the economy

• Results: 3M Q2, NatWest interim results, Co-operative Bank interim results, Mercedes-Benz Q2

World events

Finally, here is a rundown of other events and milestones this week.

Monday

• US President Joe Biden hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday

• House committee on oversight and accountability holds a hearing on the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump last weekend

• Philippines: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr delivers his state of the nation address to a joint session of the country’s congress

Tuesday

• UK: Jonathan Hall, the UK’s independent reviewer of state threats legislation, speaks at the Royal United Service Institute. This will be his first public speaking event since being appointed to the post. He will talk about the UK’s legal response to assassinations and election interference.

Wednesday

Thursday

• US: San Diego Comic-Con starts

• Bitcoin conference starts in Nashville, Tennessee. Former president Donald Trump is set to deliver the keynote address

Friday

Saturday

Sunday