Marking a year in the Ukraine War

Hello and welcome to the work week.

Friday marks the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an event that shocked the world by bringing full-scale conflict to European soil.

US President Joe Biden’s visit to Poland earlier in the week will serve as a show of strength for Ukraine’s and NATO’s allies in the face of Russia’s long-awaited spring offensive.

Monday’s EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting will focus on the war and it will be the main topic at Friday’s UN Security Council meeting in New York. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy can travel to Manhattan to address the assembled delegates.

The Financial Times has published a special edition of the magazine to mark the anniversary of the war, featuring essays by our Ukrainian correspondent Christopher Miller and academic Mary Elise Sarotte, as well as a stunning photo package by Ukrainian photographers.

Henry Foy examines how Western governments have poured more than $110 billion into Kiev since last February.

The winter of industrial unrest in Britain rumbles on. Staff at more than 150 higher education institutions are set to walk out in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions, while regional ambulance workers in England and Northern Ireland are set to stage various strikes this week.

FT Live is hosting a free online event that Future of business education: MBA in the spotlight, on Wednesday, where the FT’s Global Education Editor and Business Education Ranking Manager shares details on how the top business schools are ranked. Click Here to register.

As always, your comments and suggestions on articles are very welcome. For this issue email me at alastair.bailey@ft.com or if you have received this email in your inbox simply click reply. Jonathan will be back next week.

economic data

Gross domestic product was the key US data point on Tuesday and minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting on Wednesday.

UK public sector borrowing data for January will be released on Tuesday. Increases in debt interest rates and spending on energy support programs made last month’s release the highest monthly total since records began in January 1993.

The Turkish central bank announces interest rates on Thursday.

companies

UK banks will remain in the spotlight. Last week, NatWest reported nearly tripling gains, fueled by higher interest rates. These should also increase profits for HSBC And Lloyd’s Banking Group when they report on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, but these sources of income appear to be increasingly exhausted.

Several miners are reporting this week, including Newmont, the world’s largest gold miner, which made a $17 billion all-share bid for Australian rival Newcrest earlier this month. Global demand for gold is rising as central banks and investors seek shelter from prolonged inflation and geopolitical turmoil.

Important economic and company reports

Here’s a more complete list of what to expect this week in terms of corporate reports and economic data.

Monday

• EU, construction performance figures December

• EU, consumer confidence data

• UK, Sam Woods, Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation and Chief Executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority, speaks at the annual Association of British Insurers Dinner

• UK, Office for National Statistics, publishes its evidence research on hidden homelessness

Tuesday

• EU, S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Flash data

• EU, Zew Economic Sentiment Index

• UK, S&P Global/Cips Services and Manufacturing PMI Flash data

• UK, orders from CBI Industrial Trends

• Results: Standard Chartered GJ; HSBC GJ; Antofagasta GJ; InterContinental hotels GJ; home depot. Q4; Medtronic Q3; Palo Alto Networks Q2; Capgemini GJ; engineering GJ; coin base GJ

Wednesday

• France, business climate data

• Germany, January harmonized index of consumer price inflation data

• Italy, January Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation data

• Federal Reserve Bank of New York Chairman John Williams participates in a fireside chat on taming inflation ahead of the Hybrid Conference on Government Policy Credibility

• Results: Lloyd’s FY; NVIDIA GJ; Stellantis GJ; baidu Q4; Danone GJ; ebay Q4; Garmin GJ; Etsy GJ; Domino’s Pizza Q4; Rio Tinto GJ

Thursday

• UK, Keynote Address at the Resolution Foundation in London by Catherine L Mann: “The Outcome of Rising Interest Rates: Expectations, Delays and the Outcome of Rising Interest Rates”.

• Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe speaks at a meeting of G20 officials on cross-border payments

• US, Unemployment Claims

• US Index of Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Q4

• Results: Alibaba Group Q3; Deutsche Telekom Q4; Intuitive Q2; American tower Q4; Dr Pepper Snapple Group Q4; Budweiser Q4; CBRE GJ; Warner Bros. Discovery Q4; BAE systems GJ; Telefonica GJ; Coterra Q4; living nation GJ; Serco GJ; drax GJ; Rolls-Royces GJ; spectris GJ; Greencoat UK GJ; Morgan Sindall GJ; Qantas Q2; Anglo-American GJ; Newmont GJ

Friday

• France Q4 GDP data

• Germany Q4 GDP data

• Japan-January Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation data

• UK, April-June 2022 housing data released

• UK, cost of living and higher education students, data for England (Scolis): 30 January to 13 February

• US, new home sales data

• Results: Jupiter Wealth Management GJ; International Consolidated Airlines Group GJ; OCBC GJ; CIBC Q1; Endea GJ; Holcim Group GJ; amadeus GJ; PCN Orlen GJ

world events

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

Monday

• Greece, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making his first trip abroad since canceling a planned visit to China

• Israel, The Knesset holds first reading of controversial law reform bill

• Spain, the International Conference on Renewable Energy starts in Madrid

• UN World Day of Social Justice

• In the United States, George Washington’s birthday marks President’s Day, which is a federal holiday

Tuesday

• Belgium, EU General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels

• Italy, Venice Carnival ends

• Sweden, EU energy ministers meet in Stockholm until Wednesday

• UK, London Fashion Week ends

• Unesco’s International Mother Language Day to promote linguistic and cultural diversity

• USA, Mardi Gras parade and celebrations in New Orleans, Louisiana

• US Supreme Court issues orders and hears hearings

Wednesday

• India, the finance ministers of the G20 countries and their central bank governors will start a summit in Bengaluru by Saturday

• Indonesia, Chin’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang visits Jakarta

• In Japan, the Emperor’s birthday (Naruhito) is marked with a public holiday

• South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presents the 2023 budget

• US-UN Security Council meeting on Somalia

• US First Lady Jill Biden begins a trip to Africa with stops in Namibia and Kenya

Thursday

• Spain’s Energy Minister Teresa Ribera speaks at the Economic Forum in Madrid

• US-UN Security Council meeting on UN-EU cooperation

Friday

Saturday

• Nigeria, Nigerian Presidential Elections, Senate and House of Representatives

• USA, 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Finance and Central Bank Deputys’ meeting

Sunday

• South Africa, ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup Final in Cape Town

• UK, Manchester United play against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley Stadium