Live News: Global Debt Burden Falls as Inflation Rises

Britain’s industrial unrest has been called the second winter of unrest (although not a patch on the mass strikes that hit the UK in 1978-79) and is set to peak in the coming days, with the railway and postal workers, NHS staff and driving instructors. (yes, that one surprised me too) everyone leaving for wages and conditions.

A vote among RMT members for the latest pay offer to rail workers closes on Monday and the rail union recommends members reject the proposed deal. The offer could have been significantly higher, but government ministers blocked a 10 percent pay rise for two years, the Financial Times revealed last week. The latest of several planned 48-hour RMT strikes over the Christmas period will start on Tuesday.

More than 1 million working days are expected to be lost to strikes in the UK in December, the worst disruption of any month since the end of Margaret Thatcher’s term.

Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s administration to enact anti-strike legislation, and we may hear more about it this week, but successive Conservative prime ministers have made similar promises that have come to nothing. And whatever Sunak does now, it will be too late for industrial stocks to climb over the Christmas holidays.

Do you want better news? On Tuesday, the first of a new generation of European weather satellites will be launched into space from Kourou in French Guiana. Despite what Billy Bragg sang about wishful thinking in space hardware, the €4.3 billion third-generation Meteosat system is a huge leap forward for meteorologists, providing more accurate forecasts, including better warnings of impending storms.

Three satellites will float in geostationary orbit 36,000 km above the equator over Africa. From there they will provide images of Europa every two and a half minutes, including the first comprehensive observations of lightning from space. By doing so, the system is predicted to save lives that might have been lost in extreme weather conditions.

And then there is soccer.

If you hate the FIFA World Cup, you’ll be happy to know that it’s the last week of the tournament. If you love it, you can savor the crescendo of an extraordinary month for the beautiful game with the remaining four teams playing in the semi-finals on Wednesday before Sunday’s final – read FT coverage for full details.

Economic data

It’s not just the strikes that are gathering together this week. Markets are focused on a trio of interest rate announcements from the acronym economies: US, EU and UK. All three are expected to drop somewhat from the levels of planned increases.

There is also a lot of data from the US and UK influencing rate-setting committees. The gap between short-term and long-term borrowing costs, at its widest level since 1981, has strengthened expectations among investors that the Fed will stay on track by tightening to control inflation, despite rising concerns about the recession.

The last time the UK Monetary Policy Committee met, in early November, the focus was on restoring confidence in the country’s economic management. The Bank of England continues to talk tough, but this time the MPC’s response is expected to be more measured. Expectations are for a 0.5 percentage point increase in the base rate on Thursday, rather than repeating last month’s 0.75 percentage point increase.

Weekends flash Purchasing Managers’ Index G7 figures. There is also a summit of EU leaders and OPEC publishes its monthly outlook report.

companies

It’s a quiet week for earnings announcements, but with some notable companies reporting on specific sectors. In retail fashion, there’s H&M, which has been talking about its recovery in the Chinese market after a long consumer boycott. Expectations are also high for Spain’s Inditex, home of the Zara brand, among others. For technology, there is the purchasing Oracle. And in the field of subcontracting, Capita and Serco are representing.

Read the full schedule for next week here.