Kamala Harris set to name her running mate

Hello and welcome to the working week.

The dog days of summer are with us here in London — schools and Westminster MPs may be off on holiday, but for this diary service, the US presidential election campaign is the news gift that keeps on giving.

Kamala Harris won the nomination to be the Democratic party presidential candidate on Friday and she has said she will pick her running mate for the White House by Wednesday. The field has narrowed considerably now that Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and North Carolina governor Roy Cooper have ruled themselves out, leaving Arizona senator Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, and Minnesota governor Tim Walz as the frontrunners.

Harris has so far enjoyed a fair wind, with her polling numbers approaching (but not yet decisively ahead of) Republican rival Donald Trump, according to the FT number crunchers.

Harris will be formally endorsed by her party at the Democratic convention, which starts in Chicago on August 19, but it is a long way to election day on November 5. Brace yourselves for many more weeks of fevered analysis.

One thing coming to a close this week is the Paris 2024 Olympics. Have you enjoyed the Games? I did not expect to be enthralled, then got hooked (partly because I have a dog who has become best friends in our local park with a hound owned by one of the pair of British women divers that clinched an unexpected bronze). And of course the competition is not over because we still have the Paralympic Games. Click here for the FT’s take on the business of this sporting contest.

The main economic post this week will be comparing the purchasing managers’ indices for services and construction between leading nations. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s monetary policy committee votes on Tuesday, but it is expected to hold interest rates at current levels.

The earnings calendar is more fulsome, however, with a smorgasbord of results, from media, insurance, banking and Japanese automotive brands to tech, telecoms and consumer goods companies.

Warner Bros Discovery has had little in the way of good news heading into its second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday. In July, it lost the rights to air National Basketball Association games, ending a more than 35-year relationship and a big source of revenue for its TNT network. My US colleagues reported last month that chief executive David Zaslav is examining his options for the company after a 65 per cent decline in its share price and a prominent Wall Street analyst’s declaration that the company’s current structure “is not working”. Investors expect Warner to post a loss of 18 cents a share on revenues of $10.14bn, down 2 per cent from a year ago. 

Theme parks powered earnings at Walt Disney in the wake of Covid-19 restrictions easing, but, following the company’s second-quarter results, investors feared that the post-pandemic boom was cooling. Theme parks will again be a focus as Disney reports its results, also on Wednesday, along with progress on streaming profitability. Worries about its movie studios have eased in recent weeks with the release of two blockbusters — Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine — but the benefits of these releases will take a while to filter through. Wall Street is expecting earnings of about $1.18 per share on revenue of $23bn for the third quarter.

More details on all the earnings dates are below.

One more thing . . . 

The UK has nominated Wednesday as Playday, celebrating the precious childhood gift of inventing fun. This is something close to my heart, which I have been privileged to write about in the FT. Just to be clear, we’re not talking about playgrounds, fun as they are, where the entertainment is ordained by swing designers. This is putting young people, and their fast-developing brains, to work in the serious pursuit of imagination. If we do not keep investing in the factors that make this possible, future generations will be all the poorer.

What are your plans for the next seven days? Is there something you would like highlighted next week? Email me 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

• China, EU, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, UK, US: S&P Global/HCOB/HSBC/Caixin July services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data

• Indonesia: Q2 GDP figures

• Japan: Bank of Japan publishes its latest monetary policy meeting minutes

• Turkey: July consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate data

• UK: Bank of England’s monthly update on international reserves

• Results: Clarksons HY, Infineon Technologies Q3, Itochu Q1, Tyson Foods Q3

Tuesday

• Australia: Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate-setting decision

• EU, France, Germany, Italy, UK: S&P Global/HCOB July construction PMI data

• Germany: June industrial orders data

• Jamaica: Independence Day. Financial markets closed.

• UK: British Retail Consortium-KPMG July retail sales monitor. Also, the Bank of England publishes a quarterly update on its gilt sales programme.

• Results: Abrdn HY, Airbnb Q2, Amgen Q2, Bayer Q2, Caterpillar Q2, Fox Corp Q4, InterContinental Hotels HY, International Workplace Group HY, Keller HY, Kenvue Q2, Reddit Q2, Ricoh Q1, Saudi Aramco HY, Suzuki Motor Corp Q1, Travis Perkins HY, Tripadvisor Q2, Uber Q2, Yum Brands Q2, Zalando Q2

Wednesday

• China: July trade balance figures

• Germany: June trade balance figures

• UK: Halifax July house price index

• Results: ABN Amro Bank Q2, Ahold Delhaize Q2, Asahi HY, Beiersdorf HY, CLS HY, Commerzbank Q2, Continental HY, CVS Health Q2, Glencore HY, Honda Q1, Hilton Worldwide Q2, Hiscox HY, Ibstock HY, Legal & General HY, Lyft Q2, Maersk Q2, Mazda Motor Corp Q1, McKesson Q1, NTT Q1, NiSource Q2, Novo Nordisk Q2, Puma Q2, Ralph Lauren Q1, SoftBank Q1, Sony Q1, TP ICAP HY, Tullow Oil HY, Walt Disney Company Q3, Warner Bros Discovery Q2, WPP HY

Thursday

• Takeover Panel extended deadline for Bellway to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Crest Nicholson or announce that it does not intend to make an offer

• Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock delivers the annual rotary club lecture in Armidale

• India: Reserve Bank of India’s bimonthly monetary policy statement, plus repurchasing rate decision

• UK: Recruitment & Employment Confederation and KPMG report on jobs

• Results: Allianz Q2, Akamai Technologies Q2, AMP HY, Beazley HY, Deliveroo HY, Deutsche Telekom Q2, Eli Lilly & Co Q2, Embraer Q2, Entain HY, Expedia Q2, Hill & Smith HY, Kao HY, Mears HY, Morgan Sindall HY, News Corp Q4, Nikon Q1, PageGroup HY, Persimmon HY, Petrobras Q2, Pitney Bowes Q2, Siemens Q3, Take-Two Interactive Software Q1, Viatris Q2, Zurich Insurance HY

Friday

• Canada: July unemployment rate data

• China: July CPI and producer price index inflation rate data. Also, preliminary Q2 current account balance.

• Germany: July final CPI and harmonised index of consumer prices inflation rate data

• Russia: Q2 GDP figures and July CPI inflation rate data

• Singapore: National Day. Financial markets closed.

• Results: Bridgestone HY, Hargreaves Lansdown FY, RTL HY

World events

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

Monday

• US: sentencing expected of former British Virgin Islands premier Andrew Fahie, convicted of multiple charges including conspiracy to import a controlled substance, conspiracy to commit money laundering and foreign travel in aid of racketeering. Fahie was found guilty on February 8, but sentencing has been delayed multiple times

Tuesday

• Japan: 79th anniversary of the atomic bomb being used in combat for the first time on Hiroshima. The anniversary of the second and only other use of an atomic bomb in hostilities, on Nagasaki, will be commemorated on Friday

• UK: Scottish students receive results for their national, higher and advanced higher courses, necessary for university places

• US: Antony Blinken, secretary of state, and Lloyd Austin, secretary of defence, host their respective Australian counterparts Penny Wong and Richard Marles for ministerial consultations

Wednesday

• UK: Playday, annual day celebrating children’s right to play and its importance in their daily lives

• US: Kamala Harris’s self-imposed deadline to name her running mate in the Democratic party’s presidential election campaign

Thursday

• Asean Day, marking the signing of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations declaration by the five founding members, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand 57 years ago. The body now has 10 members

• US: San Diego Zoo’s Panda Ridge officially welcomes its two newest members, Xin Bao and Yun Chuan

Friday

• The Japan Meteorological Agency forecasts the possibility of the El Niño weather pattern forming, which is often linked to heavy rainfall and droughts and can hit the production of vital foods such as rice, wheat and sugar

• US: 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon leaving office, a day after announcing his resignation on television and radio, amid the Watergate scandal

Saturday

• UK: Divest for Palestine conference in London, demanding that local councils, universities, cultural institutions and financial institutions cut their ties with and divest their funds from companies that are arming and supporting Israel

Sunday

• France: Paris 2024 Olympic Games, final day and closing ceremony of the 33rd Olympiad. The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games begin on August 28

• US: American ban on the importation of Russian uranium takes effect.