Andrea Rossi presents his first set of results as chief executive of M&G, the asset manager and financial planning adviser, on Thursday, amid talk of a bid for the company.

M&G, which was carved out of Prudential in 2019, has substantial operations in Scotland and, as such, is a big contributor to the financial services sector north of the border.

Mr Rossi, an Italian-Swede, could find himself fending off a £5 billion takeover, if rumours of a £5 billion bid come to fruition. Australian financier Macquarie became the latest firm to be linked with the business after rival Schroders revealed that it had considered a bid, but later walked away.

The speculation has seen shareholders in M&G benefit from a 16% uplift this year.

A battery manufacturer whose production base is in Scotland will this week provide an update on its plans for a megafactory in Dundee and its long term aim of building a gigafactory.

AMTE Power, which manufactures in Thurso, is under new management and will make a statement on its strategy alongside interim results on Wednesday.

Its proposed production facility in Dundee will be capable of producing eight million battery cells per annum enabling the company to rapidly scale up cell production.

Reach, the owner of the Daily Record, Mirror, Express and local paper titles across the UK, will announce full-year figures on Tuesday and analysts will be looking for an update on advertising revenue and progress on its cost-saving plans.

Data on the US jobs market on Friday will help indicate whether the US economy is heading for a hard landing and a deep recession, a soft landing and a shallow one, or indeed no recession at all, according to AJ Bell analysts.

This is important because it could dictate the direction and pace of any changes in US interest rates. 

Monday 6 March

• Half-year results from Craneware
• Trading statement from Clarkson
• UK purchasing managers’ index for the construction industry
• EU retail sales
• US factory orders
• In Asia, monthly results from semiconductor foundry UMC
• In the USA, quarterly results from Ciena

Tuesday 7 March

• Full-year results from Fresnillo, Greggs, Reach, Petrofac, STV, H&T and Foxtons 
• Halifax UK house price index
• Interest rate decision from the Reserve Bank of Australia
• German factory orders
• In Asia, quarterly results from Sea Ltd
• In Europe, quarterly results from Lindt, Zalando and HelloFresh
• In the USA, quarterly results from one-time FTSE 100 member Ferguson

Wednesday 8 March

• Full-year results from Legal & General, ConvaTec, Hiscox, Darktrace, Restaurant Group, Spirent, Devro, Hill & Smith, IP Group and Bakkavor 
• Half-year results from AMTE Power
• German retail sales
• Interest rate decision from the Bank of Canada
• US ADP monthly payrolls survey
• US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)
• US weekly oil inventories
• Federal Reserve Beige Book published
• In Asia, quarterly results from Cathay Pacific Airlines
• In Europe, quarterly results from Thales, Adidas and Continental
• In the USA, quarterly results from Jack Daniel’s distiller Brown-Forman and Campbell Soup

Thursday 9 March

• Full-year results from Aviva, Spirax-Sarco, Informa, M&G, Pagegroup and Hammerson
• First-half results from Kier and Endeavour Mining
• Trading statements from DS Smith
• Chinese inflation
• US Challenger, Gray & Christmas job cuts survey
• US weekly unemployment claims
• In Asia, quarterly results from JD.com, Ping An Bank, Prada and Swire Pacific
• In Europe, quarterly results from Deutsche Post, Leonardo and Hugo Boss
• In the USA, quarterly results from Gap

Friday 10 March

• Full-year results from Robert Walters
• Trading statement from Berkeley Group
• UK GDP growth
• UK industrial, manufacturing and construction output
• Interest rate decision from the Bank of Japan
• In Asia, monthly results from the world’s largest semiconductor foundry, TSMC
• In Europe, quarterly results from Daimler Truck
  
  Calendar supplied by AJ Bell plus additions