Japanese emperor's enthronement, ECB sets interest rates, P&G results
The FT's Veronica Kan-Dapaah previews some of the big stories the Financial Times is watching this week, including the enthronement of Japan's new emperor, the ECB's final rate announcement under Mario Draghi, and first-quarter earnings results from Procter & Gamble
Produced and edited by James Sandy. Written by Simon Greaves and Martin Arnold
Transcript
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Here are some of the stories the Financial Times will be watching this week. Emperor Naruhito announces his enthronement on a day of national celebration in Japan. The European Central Bank makes its final rate announcement under Mario Draghi. And we'll have quarterly earnings results from Procter & Gamble.
First up, Japan will celebrate the enthronement of Emperor Naruhito on Tuesday. Thousands are set to attend including heads of state and dignitaries from 200 countries. The event comes as Japanese authorities deal with the aftermath of a recent typhoon. Typhoon Hagibis battered much of the country with heavy rains and powerful winds.
Tuesday will be a national holiday, and many of the day's events will be televised live. But further bad weather may cause a planned parade to be delayed until November. The FT's Tokyo bureau chief, Robin Harding, has more.
Japan will come to a standstill on Tuesday for the enthronement ceremony of its new emperor Naruhito. Although he took over as head of state earlier in the year this is the big party with a grand parade and numerous heads of state with their representatives in Tokyo to pay their respects. Amongst the attendees will be Prince Charles of the United Kingdom. Amongst the absentees will be South KoreaN President Moon Jae-in amid the bitter bilateral dispute between the two countries over wartime forced labour.
The festivities come just days after an enormous typhoon swept through Japan, causing flooding that has left many homes and businesses under water. It will highlight the enduring popularity of the imperial institution among the Japanese people.
Now the European Central Bank's governing council will meet to decide monetary policy this Thursday. It will be the last time this happens with Mario Draghi as president. He is preparing to hand over to Christine Lagarde.
In September Mr Draghi forecast lower than expected growth for the eurozone, and in an attempt to bolster European economies amid poor global trade he announced the ECB would restart its quantitative easing programme. This sparked a fierce backlash from other members of the council. Our Frankfurt bureau chief Martin Arnold has more.
Mr Draghi's not expected to announce any new radical measures. However, investors will be watching very closely to see what he has to say about the state of the eurozone economy, particularly after warnings by the IMF last week about the precarious nature of the global economy when it cut its forecasts because of the impact of trade wars and the uncertainty over Brexit.
Mr Draghi is also expected to face questions about the deep divisions within the ECB over the monetary easing measures including a rate cut and more bond buying that were announced by him last month. And he's also going to be questioned over the options left on the table for his successor Christine Lagarde as she prepares to take over at the end of the week.
And finally investors will be looking out for first-quarter results from Procter & Gamble on Tuesday. Back in July, PNG reported its fastest sales growth in 13 years. But during that period the consumer goods group made an $8bn writedown at its Gillette business and highlighted ongoing challenges facing legacy brands. Nevertheless, the last set of results were welcomed by investors and analysts predict the company's turnaround will continue. But, as Alistair Grey reports, the company remains under pressure.
PNG was long in the investor doghouse and it became a target a couple of years ago for Nelson Peltz, the activist investor. Consumers have been defecting to newer brands and that's hurt the company's profitability. But more recently, it's been staging a recovery. The shares have rallied 45 per cent in the past year.
The CEO, David Taylor, has been trying to refocus PNG's portfolio in successful brands and make efficiency improvements. Wall Street's expecting organic sales growth of 5 per cent for the quarter, but adjusted the profits should be up 12 per cent to $3.26bn. Investors will be particularly looking for better results from parts of PNG that have continued to underperform. Babycare sales have been weak, and men are also shaving less, putting pressure on PNG's Gillette brand.
And that's what the week ahead looks like from the Financial Times here in London.