Financial calendar in 2022 kicks off with Next PLC and US jobs report

The new year business calendar will step up to a higher gear next week as the retail sector opens its doors to a raft of trading statements covering the key festive period.

For the remainder of this week, there are only a few appointments for investors to keep, including services industry PMI data and a trading statement from UK retail bellwether Next PLC (LSE:NXT) on Thursday, with the closely followed US jobs report on Friday.

The US non-farms report and the retail updates will need to be read against a backdrop of fast-rising coronavirus cases on both sides of the Atlantic, but with scientists and investors gradually more confident that the omicron variant might not be as perilous as first thought.  

If omicron is only a short-lived issue, attention may return to inflationary pressures, analysts at AJ Bell said, with investors looking to Wednesday’s minutes from the Federal Reserve’s pre-Christmas meeting and the non-farm payrolls data for more insights.

The first trading updates from the retail sector are likely to confirm a pretty miserable festive season on the high street, said AJ Bell.

For food retailers, Christmas seemed to be “executed pretty well for shoppers”, said broker Shore Capital, which cautioned that costs – especially labour – are the main determining factor behind the earnings impact.

“M&S had remarkable momentum in-store at Q3 and we see little to believe that it did not follow-through at Christmas time,” the Shore Cap analysts said, predicting both M&S and Tesco could be winners, with Sainsbury “in the pack”.

Based on last year’s timings, following Next’s update was closely followed by updates from several others in the wider sector but this year most of them are loading up next week’s diary.

Next week we should see statements from Marks & Spencer Group PLC, Tesco PLC, J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) on the food-led side; in clothing there should be updates from Primark owner Associated British Foods PLC (LSE:ABF) and fast fashion rivals ASOS PLC (AIM:ASC) and Boohoo Group PLC (AIM:BOO), along with sportswear star JD Sports Fashion PLC (LSE:JD.); in DIY and home improvement there should be releases from B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher PLC (LSE:KGF) and Howden Joinery Group (LSE:HWDN) PLC; along with Currys PLC (LSE:CURY), Halfords Group PLC (LSE:HFD), B&M European Value PLC and Studio Retail Group PLC (LSE:STU).

The following week updates from Burberry Group PLC (LSE:BRBY) and Topps Tiles PLC (LSE:TPT).