Hello and welcome to the working week.
It is the season of goodwill, allegedly, so what better time to make amends with your neighbours? That’s what the UK government hopes at least. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has got a guest pass to the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, where she aims to widen co-operation with the bloc in a range of areas including economic policy. The fact that she is attending the meeting is itself a sign of the UK’s improving relations with the EU, as the two sides attempt to repair their relationship since Labour took office. Discussions are expected to focus on developments in the UK and broader European economy, and areas of common interest, including the G7 agenda and the EU’s financial support for Ukraine. Where will it end?
Reeves is not the only Labour frontbencher heading for the continent this week. Yvette Cooper is due in Calais on Monday to meet her French counterpart Bruno Retailleau to discuss immigration and Channel crossings. Expect lots of talk about “smashing the gangs”, echoing the meeting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni in Rome. But will it result in material change?
On the other side of Europe, Georgia’s chaotic politics will be making headlines again as this autumn’s general election result — questioned by Washington and Brussels, and putting the country’s EU ambitions at risk — returns to haunt the vote, by an electoral college including parliamentarians, for a new president. Incumbent Salome Zourabichvili, a leading opposition figure, declared this month that she would remain in office despite her term officially ending on December 16. As the FT editorial boards put it, this is a dangerous stand-off.
Bitcoin is having a moment, to put it mildly, which no doubt pleases the organisers of the Bitcoin Mena conference in Abu Dhabi, which will be bringing together industry leaders to discuss the future of the digital currency, starting on Tuesday. If you want an FT insight, and you’re a subscriber, read this.
The corporate news diary is a bit thin this week, with US tech group Oracle, Spanish fast-fashion retailer Inditex and German travel group Tui Group bringing up the rear at the tail-end of the latest earnings season. In the UK, it’s a retailer-heavy week with online card seller Moonpig and clicks and mortar electricals chain Currys. There is potential for a more mixed update from the latter with an increased national insurance bill, after Labour’s Budget increases, likely to weigh on the outlook for next year.
The economic data run is steady with inflation figures from the US, China and Germany, the Tankan quarterly assessment of business conditions in Japan, plus GDP updates from Japan and the UK.
Investors expect the European Central Bank to lower borrowing costs by a quarter-point to 3 per cent at its rate-setting meeting on Thursday, even after last month’s inflation uptick, according to data from interest rate swaps markets.
Central banks in Australia, Canada and Brazil will also set rates this week. More details about these and other events below.
One more thing . . .
Britain has an infrastructure building problem, particularly when it comes to trains. I have personal experience of this because my in-laws live in Portishead, where a near quarter-century campaign to reinstate just 3.3 miles of track to reconnect the North Somerset town with nearby Bristol has yet to achieve its aim. However, this week brings hope, with an example from the other end of England of another disused passenger service returning from the grave. The Northumberland Line reopens for service on Sunday. If you are excited about such things, this YouTube video by train nerd Geoff Marshall will warm your heart.
What are your plans for the week ahead? Drop me a line at jonathan.moules@ft.com 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
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Bank of England deputy governor for markets and banking, Dave Ramsden, to speak at Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum on financial stability and the BoE’s toolkit
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Vivendi shareholders’ meeting to vote on the proposed split of Canal+, Havas and Louis Hachette Group from the company. If approved, shares in the three companies are expected to begin trading on the London Stock Exchange, Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Paris, respectively, on December 16
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Japan: revised Q3 GDP estimate
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UK: KPMG and REC Report on Jobs
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Results: Oracle Q2
Tuesday
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Australia: interest rate setting announcement
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Germany: November consumer price index (CPI) and harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) inflation rate data
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UK: Q3 mortgage lenders and administrators statistics
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Results: Ashtead Q2, AutoZone Q1, Moonpig HY, NCC FY (16 months)
Wednesday
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IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva to take part in a fireside chat at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York
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Opec monthly Oil Market Report
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Brazil: interest rate setting announcement
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Canada: interest rate setting announcement
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UK: Q3 banking sector regulatory capital figures
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US: November CPI inflation rate data
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Results: Adobe Q4, British American Tobacco FY trading update, Inditex Q3, LPP Q3, Tui FY, Volution Group trading update at AGM
Thursday
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IEA monthly Oil Market Report
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EU: European Central Bank sets interest rate
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UK: RICS residential market survey
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US: November producer price index (PPI) inflation rate data
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Results: Broadcom Q4, Carr’s Group FY, Costco Q1, Currys HY, De La Rue HY, NewRiver Reit HY, RWS Holdings FY
Friday
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Nasdaq 100 Index annual reconstitution announcement
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EU: October industrial production figures plus Q3 labour market data
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Japan: Q4 Tankan survey (AM local time)
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UK: October GDP estimate, plus Bank of England/Ipsos Inflation Attitudes survey. Also, GfK Consumer Confidence Survey
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US: November Import and Export Price indexes
World events
Finally, here is a rundown of other events and milestones this week.
Monday
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The Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award winner will be announced at a ceremony in London
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Japan: International Atomic Energy Agency officials and international experts arrive in Japan for a review of the safety and regulatory aspects of the discharge of ALPS-treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea
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UK/France: Home secretary Yvette Cooper meets French interior minister Bruno Retailleau in Calais
Tuesday
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EU: Ecofin meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels. They will be joined by UK chancellor Rachel Reeves
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Sweden: Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm, for prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economic Sciences, held on Nobel Day, the anniversary of the 1896 death of Swedish dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel
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UAE: Bitcoin Mena conference for the bitcoin industry begins in Abu Dhabi. Speakers include Eric Trump, the Trump’s administration special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and SkyBridge Capital’s founder and managing partner Anthony Scaramucci
Wednesday
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FT Forums: Forecasting the world in 2025. A panel of FT experts will discuss their predictions for the world in 2025 and identify the key trends that will reshape the macroeconomic and business landscape next year. Register here
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France: workers due to go on strike at railway operator SNCF in protest at planned changes, including privatisation pushes, at the state-owned company
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Madagascar: local elections
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Switzerland: new president elected by parliament
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US: deadline for governors to certify their states’ presidential election results and prepare seven Certificates of Ascertainment, one of which must be sent to the archivist and six of which will be used by electors for electoral votes
Thursday
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Italy: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas begins two-day visit to Rome, where he will meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis
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Mexico: annual Virgin of Guadalupe feast day at Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, also referred to as the Lady of the Americas, in Mexico City
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US: Billboard Music Awards ceremony, honouring the most successful artists of the past year based on key fan interactions, including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring and social engagement
Friday
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Nasa’s Lucy mission, a robotic spacecraft, is due to make its second fly-past of Earth on its way to the Trojan asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit
