Apple set to launch ‘mixed reality’ headset

Hello and welcome to the working week.

Apple will on Monday give us what has been billed as its biggest product launch since the iPad, 13 years ago.

The new “mixed reality” headset was seven years in the making — twice as long as it took to create the first iPhone. Chief executive Tim Cook, who will be giving the keynote speech from the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, hopes it will guarantee him a legacy akin to that of the company’s smartphone. The FT’s Richard Waters sees it as a hedge against the eventual waning of enthusiasm for smartphones.

Staying in the US, former Republican vice-president Mike Pence is expected to launch a presidential bid against his former boss Donald Trump on CNN.

Pence hopes he can overcome anger among Republican voters — many of whom fault him for certifying Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020 — by taking credit for economic, immigration and trade policies implemented during the Trump administration.

There are a couple of reports to watch out for this week. The World Bank unveils the summer edition of its Global Economic Prospects on Tuesday and the OECD releases its economic outlook on Wednesday.

In the UK, the CBI’s membership will vote on Tuesday on whether to approve the British business lobbying group’s “programme of change” after a recent scandal.

The week will finish with the men’s and women’s finals in the French Open tennis tournament, the Le Mans 24-hour motor racing contest and the Uefa Champions League final.

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Economic data

We have an inflation update from China, final gross domestic product revisions from the EU and Japan, plus a comparison of the performances of G7 nations with the latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) figures on services.

Rate decisions this week come from Australia and Canada. Some analysts expect the Bank of Canada to raise rates on Wednesday for the first time since pausing in January because of the country’s stronger than expected economic performance this year, but most see the central bank holding off until at least July.

Companies

The run of earnings will begin slowly but gather pace as the week progresses with a mixed bag of budget airlines (Wizz Air), drinks and cigarette suppliers (Brown-Forman and British American Tobacco) plus mass transport operators (FirstGroup).

Among the highlights is Inditex, the Spanish owner of high street fashion retailer Zara, whose first-quarter figures are expected to beat the market average, despite ongoing problems in the Russian market.

London’s standing as a place to list companies will be back in the news, with CRH holding an extraordinary general meeting for shareholders on Thursday to vote on a proposed change of primary listing from London to New York for the Dublin-based building materials business.

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

• Apple stages its Worldwide Developers Conference from its headquarters in Cupertino, California

• Global airlines body Iata publishes its annual report into the industry at its annual meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Istanbul, Turkey

• International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors meeting begins in Vienna, Austria

• China, EU, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, UK, US: Caixin/Cips/S&P Global final services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey

• Germany, April trade balance figures

• Greece, Orthodox Whitsun public holiday

• US, April factory orders data

Tuesday

• Australia, Reserve Bank interest rate decision

• China, 2023 Guangzhou International Automobile Technology Exhibition ends

• EU, monthly retail sales figures

• Germany, SuperReturn private equity conference in Berlin

• Sweden, National Day, financial markets closed

• UK, BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor

• UK, Cips/S&P construction PMI survey

• World Bank’s summer edition of its Global Economic Prospects report

• Results: British American Tobacco trading update, Chemring H1, Ferguson Q3, N Brown FY, Paragon Banking Group H1, Speedy Hire FY

Wednesday

• OECD Economic Outlook report

• Australia, Q1 GDP figures

• Canada, central bank interest rate decision

• Germany, April industrial production figures

• UK, Halifax House Price Index

• Results: Brown-Forman Q4, Campbell Soup Company Q3, Inditex Q1

Thursday

• CRH holds an extraordinary general meeting for shareholders to vote on shifting its primary listing from London to New York

• Waverley Borough council brings a legal challenge to the plan by UK Oil and Gas to drill for oil in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

• EU, Q1 GDP figures

• India, central bank rate decision

• Japan, revised Q1 GDP figures

• UK, RICS house price index

• Results: Crest Nicholson H1, FirstGroup FY, M&G Q1 trading statement, Mitie FY, Wizz Air Holdings FY

Friday

• Canada, May unemployment rate

• China, May consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI) inflation rate figures

• Russia, May CPI inflation rate figures

• UK, the GMB closes its union ballot of members working at the Amazon fulfilment centres in Rugeley and Mansfield for industrial action in a dispute over pay. This follows 14 days of strike action at Amazon’s Coventry depot, involving as many as 700 workers

World events

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

Monday

• World Environment Day will see events staged around the globe to increase awareness of worldwide environmental concerns

• EU, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde presents her views on current economic and monetary policy at a hearing before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European parliament in Brussels

• Switzerland, the World Trade Organization secretariat holds a review of the EU’s trade policies

• US, president Joe Biden hosts Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen at the White House. Discussions between the fellow Nato members are likely to include the Ukraine conflict, as well as climate change and energy security

Tuesday

• France, a 14th day of mass strikes and protests, called by the country’s main unions, are expected to demand the withdrawal of the pension reforms law. President Emmanuel Macron will make an official visit to Normandy on the 79th anniversary of D-Day

• Germany, chancellor Olaf Scholz and France’s president Macron meet for an informal dinner in Potsdam, where they are expected to discuss this month’s European Council and the Nato Summit in July

• Kuwait, parliamentary elections

• Netherlands, four days of hearings begin at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to consider Ukraine’s claim that Russia violated a UN treaty by supporting pro-Russian separatists, identified by a Dutch court as being responsible for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17

• UK, CBI extraordinary general meeting. The business organisation announced in April that it was suspending all policy and membership activity until the EGM following a number of allegations made against it, including allegations by female staff of rape and sexual assault taking place at CBI events

• US, British prime minister Rishi Sunak begins a two-day US visit

Wednesday

• UK in a Changing Europe annual conference opens in London, reflecting on the seven years since the country voted to leave the EU and the impact this has had on British politics. Speakers include Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds

• US, former Republican vice-president Mike Pence is set to launch a presidential bid

Thursday

• Canada, Bank of Canada deputy governor Paul Beaudry to speak at the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce

• UK, a 14-day strike begins at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Europe’s biggest soft drinks plant, in a dispute over pay

Friday

• UK, London Fashion Week begins

• US, 76th Tony Awards to recognise achievements on Broadway theatre productions will be held at the United Palace in New York

Saturday

• The Le Mans 24-hour endurance motor race begins in the French city

• French Open tennis women’s singles final is played in Paris

• 2022-23 Uefa Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan is played at the Atatürk Olympic stadium, Istanbul

• UK, 12th Liverpool Biennial festival of contemporary visual art opens, marking the 25th anniversary of the UK’s largest contemporary visual arts festival

Sunday

• French Open tennis men’s single final is played in Paris

• Montenegro, parliamentary elections