Budget to dominate next week, Aviva, Entain and non-farm payrolls also out

Macro news edges back into the picture this week after the flood of company updates.

In the UK, we, of course, have the big news of the pre-election Budget on Wednesday flanked by GDP updates and more housing stats.

This weekend should be Leak O'Clock for Budget news, but for some pointers you can find a snapshot of all the rumours so far in our running Budget preview. 

Away from the Budget, economists' attention will be on the US monthly non-farms number on Friday.

More hawkish comments coming out from the US Federal Reserve haven't stopped stock markets in the States hitting new highs, though most of this is tech-related.

Current forecasts are for around 150,000 jobs to have been created in February, but the last predictions undershot massively and a repeat would be bad news for interest rate cut hopes and presumably equity markets.

Ashtead and Ferguson, meanwhile, should give an insight into the mood on the ground in the US construction business.

Elsewhere on the company front, it's an insurance week with Legal & General, Aviva and Admiral all reporting.

Expect the trio to be more on their toes after the bid approach to peer Direct Line, which might be the harbinger of a new round of consolidation among the big insurers. 

Monday 4 March

Announcements due

Interims: Craneware PLC

Finals: Clarkson PLC, Globaldata PLC, Quartix Technologies

AGMs: Ascent Resources PLC, JPMorgan Emerging Europe, Middle East & Africa Securities PLC, Lexington Gold

Tuesday 05 March

Will Greggs’ expansion and profit update ignite its shares?... read the preview

Travis Perkins meanwhile has a dividend at risk according to UBS... read the preview 

Announcements due

Trading updates: Ashtead Group PLC

Interims: Beeks Financial Cloud Group PLC, Dotdigital Group PLC, Ferguson PLC

Finals: Bakkavor Group PLC, Blackbird PLC, Foxtons Group PLC, Fresnillo PLC, Greggs PLC, Headlam Group PLC, Inchcape PLC, Intertek Group PLC, Iwg PLC, Johnson Service Group PLC, Keller Group PLC, Reach PLC, Rotork PLC, Sig PLC, Somero Enterprise Inc, Stv Group PLC, Travis Perkins PLC, Xp Power Ltd

US earnings: Nio Inc, Crowdstrike Holdings Inc

AGMs: Beowulf Mining PLC, Cc Japan Income & Growth Trust PLC, Driver Group PLC, Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust PLC, Jersey Electricity PLC

Economic announcements: BRC Shop Price Index (UK), PMI Composite (UK), PMI Services (UK), PMI Composite (US), Factory Orders (US), ISM Services (US), PMI Services (US)

Wednesday 06 March

Budget Day: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivers what could be his final speech at Number 11... read the preview 

Legal & General will be expected to  reiterate its dividend commitment after a busy year on the pension front.. read the preview

Announcements due

Trading updates: Smith (DS) PLC

Interims: Galliford Try Holdings PLC, Netcall, Ricardo PLC

Finals: Breedon Group PLC, Capita PLC, Convatec Group PLC, T Clarke PLC, Greencoat Renewables PLC, Ibstock PLC, Legal & General Group PLC, Lancashire Holdings Ltd, Nichols PLC, Rathbones Group PLC, Ricardo PLC, Spirent Communications PLC, Tullow Oil PLC

US earnings: JD.com Inc

AGMs: Ecofin Global Utilities And Infrastructure Trust PLC, Mila Resources PLC, Paragon Banking Group PLC

Economic announcements: PMI Construction (UK), MBA Mortgage Applications (US), Wholesales Inventories (US), Crude Oil Inventories (US)

Thursday 7 March

Will the weather affect Aviva cash handouts... read the preview

Entain is getting mixed reviews from brokers ahead of its finals... read the preview

Darktrace is still working on its reputation, will it get more credit after this update?...read the preview

ITV meanwhile has thrown a spanner into the mix with the sale of its BritBox streaming stake and some explanation will be needed... read more

Melrose should have plenty of good news to impart according to JP Morgan... read the preview

PageGroup and Robert Walters holding out for a miracle... read the preview

Announcements due

Interims: Brooks Macdonald Group, Darktrace PLC, Kier Group PLC

Finals: Admiral Group PLC, Aviva PLC, Beazley PLC, Coats Group PLC, Elementis PLC, Entasin PLC, Funding Circle Holdings PLC, Harbour Energy PLC, ITV PLC, Melrose Industries PLC, Nexus Infrastructure PLC, Pagegroup PLC, Rentokil Initial PLC, Robert Walters PLC, Spirax-Sarco Engineering PLC, Tt Electronics PLC, Tyman PLC

US earnings: Broadcom Inc, Costco Wholesale Corporation, Docusign Inc, Mongodb Inc

AGMs: SPDR Citi Asia Local Gov Bond UCITS Etf, Ct UK Capital And Income Investment Trust PLC, Henderson Opportunities Trust PLC, Xps Pensions Group PLC

Economic announcements: Halifax House Price Index (UK), Balance of Trade (US), Continuing Claims (US), Initial Jobless Claims (US), Consumer Credit (US)

Ex-dividend to reduce FTSE 100 by: 29.31

Friday 08 March

Forecasts for NFPs today are that around 150,000 jobs were created in February... read more

Announcements due

Finals: Informa PLC, Just Group PLC, Lms Capital PLC

AGMs: Allergy Therapeutics PLC, Chenavari Toro Income Fund Ltd, Schroder UK Mid Cap Fund PLC

Economic announcements: Non-Farm Payrolls (US), Unemployment Rate (US)