Live Register data due out this week is expected to make for grim reading. Economists are predicting that the figures will show that the number of people signing on for unemployment benefits rose from 291,000 in December to as many as 310,000 last month.
Meanwhile the European Central Bank (ECB) meets on Thursday, but mortgage holders hoping for any further reprieve will probably be disappointed, for the time being at least. ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet has indicated on more than one occasion that the next key meeting in relation to interest rates will be in March.
The Bank of England's policy committee meets this week, and markets are expecting interest rates to be cut by a further 0.50 per cent to a new historical low of 1 per cent.
Monday
Results:Lacrosse; Mattel; Ryanair; SanDisk
Indicators:EU Manufacturing PMI (Jan); US Construction Spending (Dec), ISM Manufacturing (Jan) and Personal Income (Dec); UK CIPS Manufacturing PMI (Jan)
Others: ECB Governing Council Member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo speaks at the opening of the Euro Exhibition (Barcelona)
Tuesday
Results:Archer Daniels Midland; BP; Edwards Lifesciences; Hitachi; Merck; Motorola; Schering-Plough; Walt Disney Meetings: Anglo Irish Bank's internal auditors to appear before Oireachtas Joint Committee on Economic Regulatory Affairs
Indicators: EU PPI (Dec); Irish Exchequer Returns (end-Jan); US Pending Home Sales (Dec) and Vehicle Sales (Jan)
Wednesday
Results:Alcatel-Lucent; Cisco Systems; Datalink; Electrolux; FMC; Kraft Foods; Novellus Systems; Panasonic; Polo Ralph Lauren; Sara Lee; Sunoco; Time Warner;Travis Perkins; Visa.
Meetings:'Beat The Downturn' SFA conference (Croke Park).
Indicators:EU Services PMI (Jan) and Retail Sales (Dec); Irish Live Register (Jan); US ADP Employment (Jan) and ISM Non-Manufacturing (Jan); Norges Bank Interest Rate Announcement.
Others:Norwegian central bank's policy-setting executive board holds meeting on interest rates (Oslo); Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee meeting (to Feb 5th)
Thursday
Results:Burger King; Cardinal Health; Danske Bank; Evergreen Solar; Fortis; Gartner; GlaxoSmithKline; Kellogg; MasterCard; Moody's; Zurich Life (Eagle Star Life); Unilever; Warner Music; Watson Wyatt; Western Union; Yell; Zurich Financial Services
Meetings:Dublin Chamber agm Dinner 2009 - guest of honour Taoiseach Brian Cowen (Four Seasons Hotel, D4); Solar Industry Conference (Rome); easyjet agm
Indicators: ECB Interest Rate Announcement; US Initial Jobless Claims (w/e 31st Jan), Labour Costs (Q4) and Factory Orders (Dec); UK BoE Interest Rate Announcement; German Industrial Orders (Dec)
Friday
Results:Aon; British Airways; Toyota; Weyerhaeuser
Indicators:Irish Live Register Additional Tables (Jan), Household Travel Survey (Q3), Garda Recorded Crime Statistics (2003-2007) and Recorded Crime (Q4); US Non-Farm Payrolls (Jan) and Consumer Credit (Dec); UK Industrial Production (Dec) and PPI Input (Jan); Leading Indicators (Dec).
