Business takes centre stage

Hello and welcome to the working week.

Have you had enough of politics? Well, I’ve some good news for you. The diary for the next seven days is driven by corporate news and the importance of business.

We are in the thick of earnings season with financial services, including the last of the Wall Street banks to report, dominating the results schedule. But it is not just earnings calls. There is a change at the top of Nike, aimed at leading a turnaround of what has of late been a troubled business. New boss Elliott Hill was a Nike intern and spent much of his career at “The Swoosh”, bar a brief period as an assistant trainer for the Dallas Cowboys American football team. This CV is markedly different to the man Hill is replacing — Ivy League-educated former tech executive John Donahoe — something the company hopes will augur well for the future.

The Tokyo Metro will be in the news as pricing for its initial public offering is announced. This is one of Japan’s largest remaining non-financial businesses still entirely in state hands. The buoyant Tokyo market, say officials and bankers, presents an unmissable opportunity for a bumper IPO and will break a bit of a drought in large-scale listings on the Tokyo exchange. For more insight, FT Tokyo bureau chief Leo Lewis writes beautifully about the subject, which as he notes is a classic late-capitalist trade-off between profitability and public service, but with national identity as the principal currency.

The UK’s still relatively new Labour government will host what it hopes will be a major investment summit in central London on Monday, introducing its just appointed investment minister, the co-founder of cyber security business Darktrace, Poppy Gustafsson. The event, promised before the general election as part of Labour’s first actions in government to boost growth, relies on drawing in some big hitters. About 200 executives are expected, but there is concern that key business leaders will not attend, and that the day will be overshadowed by the threat of tax rises in chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget, held just 16 days later.

The next few days bring a steady flow of economic data reports, notably inflation updates (the UK, Canada, India and Japan), UK unemployment and wages data, industrial production figures from the US plus a third-quarter GDP estimate from China. All eyes will be on Frankfurt on Thursday as the European Central Bank Monetary Policy Committee meets. The Eurozone’s slowing growth has led economists to expect a 0.25 percentage-point rate cut. More details below.

One more thing . . . 

Music is a force that has flowed through me all my life. One of my favourite sections in the FT Weekend is Life of a Song in the Life & Arts section. Now I have a chance to plug this slot given that this week is both National Album Day in the UK and the 39th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Here’s a selection of the best of them.

What are your priorities for the next seven days? Email me at [email protected] or, if you are reading this from your inbox, hit reply.

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

• Elliott Hill becomes Nike president and chief executive, succeeding John Donahoe who retired yesterday

• Hargreaves Lansdown general meeting of shareholders to vote on the proposed acquisition of the company by a consortium comprising CVC Advisers, Nordic Capital XI Delta, SCSP and Platinum Ivy

• Swati Dhingra, a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee will be a panellist at the Reserve Bank of India’s 90th anniversary conference in New Delhi

• Canada: Thanksgiving Day. Financial markets closed

• China: September trade balance figures

• India: September consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate data

• Japan: Health and Sports Day. Financial markets closed

• Opec October Oil Market Report

• Results: Ashmore Q1 AUM statement, Chemring trading update, HCL Technologies Q2, PageGroup Q3 trading update, Reliance Industries Q2

Tuesday

• Tokyo Metro is expected to announce the final pricing of its initial public offering, before shares in the transport operator are set to begin trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on October 23

• IEA October Oil Market Report

• Canada: September CPI inflation rate data

• Germany: ZEW survey expectations

• UK: October labour market statistics

• Results: Bank of America Q3, Bellway FY, Charles Schwab Q3, Citigroup Q3, Goldman Sachs Q3, Johnson & Johnson Q3, Mitie HY trading update, PNC Financial Services Q3, Qinetiq Q2 trading update, Reach Q3 trading update, Robert Walters Q3 trading update, State Street Q3, UnitedHealth Q3, Victorian Plumbing FY, Walgreens Boots Alliance Q4

Wednesday

• UK: September CPI and producer price index (PPI) inflation rate data

• Results: Abbott Laboratories Q3, Alcoa Q3, ASML Holding Q3, Brooks Macdonald Q1 funds under management, Citizens Financial Group Q3, Crown Castle Q3, CSX Q3, Equifax Q3, Just Eat Takeaway Q3 trading update, Kinder Morgan Q3, Marshalls Q3 trading update, Mony Q3 trading statement, Morgan Stanley Q3, Ninety One Q2 assets under management, Oxford Instruments trading update, Prologis Q3, Quilter Q3 trading update, Rio Tinto Q3 operations review, United Airlines Q3, US Bancorp Q3, Whitbread HY

Thursday

• IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva gives a curtain raiser speech on the outlook for the global economy and policy priorities ahead of her organisation’s 2024 annual meetings in Washington

• EU: European Central Bank interest rate decision

• Japan: September trade balance figures

• Turkey: interest rate decision

• Results: ABB Q3, AJ Bell FY trading update, BHP Group operational review, Blackstone Q3, Centamin Q3, Deliveroo Q3 trading update, Discover Financial Services Q3, Entain Q3 trading update, GB Group HY trading update, Ibstock trading update, Infosys Q2, KeyCorp Q3, M&T Bank Q3, Marsh & McLennan Q3, Mondi Q3, Netflix Q3, Nokia Q3, PPG Industries Q3, Publicis Groupe Q3, Rank Q1 trading update, Rathbones Group Q3 interim management statement, Rentokil Initial Q3 trading update, Schindler Q3, Snap-On Q3, St James’s Place Q3 new business announcement, Travelers Q3

Friday

• China: Q3 GDP data

• Japan: September CPI inflation rate data

• UK: September retail sales for Great Britain

• US: September industrial production figures

• Results: American Express Q3, Comerica Q3, Fifth Third Bancorp Q3, Procter & Gamble Q1, Schlumberger Q3

World events

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

Monday

• UK: government will host its International Investment Summit. Foreign secretary David Lammy will be at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, in Luxembourg

• US: Columbus Day holiday. Financial markets remain open

Tuesday

Wednesday

• UK: Labour party MP Kim Leadbeater set to put forward her bill on assisted dying in England and Wales to parliament. Separately, the RIBA Stirling Prize for Architecture winner, considered the most prestigious event in the country’s architecture calendar, will be announced at a ceremony in London

Thursday

• Belgium: Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte hosts a meeting of defence ministers from member states in Brussels, his first time doing this since taking up his role. The meeting at Nato headquarters in Brussels runs until tomorrow.

• EU: European Council’s two-day meeting of EU heads of state and government, chaired by the European Council president Charles Michel, begins in Brussels. The agenda includes military aid and energy infrastructure reinforcement for Ukraine, violence in the Middle East and promoting a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine

Friday

• Australia: King Charles and Queen Camilla begin a state visit to Australia, Charles’s first trip overseas since his cancer diagnosis. The tour continues into next week

• Italy: G7 defence ministers meeting in Naples, attended by ministers of the G7 member nations — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US.

Saturday

• UK: National Album Day, seventh annual event celebrating the anniversary of the album format. This year’s theme is ‘Great British Groups’, celebrated by Album Champions including Shed Seven, Catherine Marks, Jeff Wayne, Liam Fray, Nova Twins, Jazzie B and Travis

• US: 39th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony streamed live on Disney+. To be eligible, acts must have released their first single or album at least 25 years before the year of nomination. This year’s inductees are Mary J Blige, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & The Gang, Ozzy Osbourne and A Tribe Called Quest.

Sunday