Producer prices Official data for the cost of goods leaving factories will be released today. Headline output prices are forecast to have risen by 0.4 per cent in January, lifting the year-on-year pace of increase to 5.1 per cent, from 5 per cent in December. Input prices are expected to have risen by 1.5 per cent, after a 0.5 per cent rise in December, with the annual pace of increase tipped to rise to 15.3 per cent, from 11.3 per cent.
House price inflation Data released today from the Department for Communities and Local Government are expected to show that house price growth has slowed to 8.5 per cent in December, down from 9.5 per cent in November.
Housing market Data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, due out on Wednesday, is expected to show that the housing market has weakened further. The balance of surveyors reporting price falls rather than price rises is expected to be minus 62.5 per cent in January, compared with minus 49.1 per cent in December.
Inflation figures, to be released by the Office for National Statistics tomorrow, are expected to show that annual consumer price index figures rose to 2.3 per cent last month, from 2.1 per cent in December after increases in petrol and energy prices. The retail price index is tipped to have risen by 4.1 per cent year on year, up from 4 per cent in December.
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Unemployment is tipped to have seen a further decline in January, according to official data due out on Wednesday, with the claimant count expected to fall by 5,000 after a December drop of 6,500. On the Government’s preferred survey-based measure the unemployment rate is tipped to be unchanged at 5.3 per cent.
Eurozone industrial production is expected to have increased in December. Figures to be released on Wednesday are tipped to show that production increased by 0.6 per cent, after falling by 0.5 per cent in November. The annual increase is 2.3 per cent, down from 2.7 per cent.
Eurozone GDP is expected to show slower growth in the fourth quarter. Data due out on Thursday is tipped to show an increase of 0.3 per cent, down from 0.8 per cent in the previous quarter, taking the annual growth to 2.2 per cent, down from 2.7 per cent.
German GDP data, due out on Thursday, are expected to show a 0.3 per cent increase in the last quarter, down from a 0.7 per cent rise in the previous quarter. This will cause a drop in the annual increase in GDP to 1.8 per cent, from 2.5 per cent.
US industrial production is expected to have increased by 0.1 per cent in January. Data due out on Friday are tipped to show the modest increase after production remained flat during December.
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Japanese interest rates are expected to be held by the Bank of Japan at 0.5 per cent in an announcement due on Friday.
Japanese GDP figures, due on Wednesday, are tipped to show a 0.4 per cent rise in the last quarter
Banking & finance
Credit Suisse is expected to report sharply reduced full-year profits tomorrow, with its investment banking unit expected to be the main drag. Analysts forecast net profits of SwFr8.5 billion (£3.9 billion).
Royal Bank of Scotland Some of Royal Bank of Scotland’s shareholders are pressing it to launch a rights issue to repair its balance sheet, even if such a move means the departure of Sir Fred Good-win, the chief executive. His takeover of ABN Amro, the Dutch bank, has reduced RBS’s capital ratios and it has also been hit by the credit crunch. (The Observer)
Soci?t? G?n?rale J?rôme Ker-viel, the French trader detained in custody in France last week after losing €4.9 billion (£3.7 billion), feared a prison sentence as he sought to hide unauthorised bets on a falling stock market, according to e-mails that were sent by the Soci?t? G?n?rale operator to Moussa Bakir, a broker questioned by police last week.
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Eclipse Shipping, the first shipping investment fund, will be launched today by Marine Capital. It will allow funds and wealthy private investors the chance to profit from soaring demand for bulk carriers and container vessels, buoyed by the expansion of trade with the Far East.
Construction & property
The Crown Estate will earn windfall profits of at least £100 million a year from Britain’s booming offshore renewable energy industry. The estate, which owns the foreshore and seabed around the UK, has already signed contracts worth tens of millions of pounds with operators of offshore wind farms.
Farm land The price of farm land has risen by 28 per cent to £10,439 per hectare, the highest value so far recorded and the fastest pace of growth in the 11 years that the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has been tracking the rural land market.
Consumer goods
Reckitt Benckiser, the household goods group, is expected to please the City with strong full-year figures on Wednesday after solid progress across its range of brands. The company raised its sales growth forecasts by 9 per cent in October.
Diageo, the drinks group, is expected to report a strong interim results on Thursday as its focus on spirits and premium brands continues to pay off. Its latest deal, to buy a 50 per cent stake in Ketel One, the vodka brand, indicates a push further into this market.
Tate & Lyle senior executives have met representatives from Harbinger Capital, the activist American hedge fund that has recently built a 10 per cent stake in the sugar producer. (The Sunday Telegraph)
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Engineering
Halma, the sensor technology group, is expected to issue an up-beat trading update on Thursday, with it continuing to see strong demand from the industrial safety division where orders from oil and gas and chemical applications are likely to have remained firm.
Health
Integrated Dental Holdings The private equity arm of Merrill Lynch, the investment bank, has acquired a majority shareholding in Integrated Dental Holdings, Britain’s biggest chain of dental practices. (The Sunday Times)
Industrials
Smiths Group Philip Bowman, the new chief executive of Smiths Group, the industrial conglomerate, is to give his first update to shareholders today. He succeeded Keith Butler-Wheelhouse in December and his appointment has prompted speculation of a break-up of the group.
Mitchells & Butlers, the embattled pubs and bars operator, is to consider asset swaps and a range of property disposals as part of the strategic review initiated in the wake of the company’s £275 million hedging calamity. (The Sunday Telegraph)
Media
GCap Media Fru Hazlitt, the new chief executive of GCap Media, is today set to unveil an aggressive cost-cutting plan designed to protect the group from a £300 million takeover offer. She will need to persuade shareholders that her plans to revitalise the UK’s biggest commercial radio broadcaster offer better value than a takeover bid from Global Radio, which was rejected last month.
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Setanta Sports, the broadcaster of English Premier League football, is seeking to drum up interest in a possible sale. The Irish-owned group is understood to be looking for a valuation in excess of £1 billion, even though the company is not yet profitable.
Natural resources
Total, the French oil company, is expected on Wednesday to report adjusted fourth-quarter net profits of €3 billion (£2.2 billion), up from €2.7 billion last time.
Vale The Brazilian Government may take a “golden” blocking share in Vale to protect national interests should the mining company succeed in its $90 billion (£46.2 billion) takeover of Xstrata. Members of the Government have expressed concern that Brazilian ownership of Vale, formerly CVRD, will be diluted.
Rio Tinto, the mining company, said that its chairman has written to shareholders urging them to take no action on a bid for the company by BHP Billiton, its rival, saying that it undervalued the group. BHP’s revised offer for Rio, worth about $147 billion when it was launched last week, would be the mining sector’s biggest deal so far if it succeeds.
ExxonMobil President Chavez of Venezuela threatened to cut off oil sales to the US in an “economic war” if ExxonMobil wins court rulings to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets.
Retailing
Ocado, the internet grocery retailer, is hoping to secure a new long-term supply contract with Waitrose, the supermarket group. The move could herald the loss-making Ocado’s long-awaited stock market flotation. (The Sunday Telegraph)
Asda, the supermarket group, is lobbying for planning rules to be suspended in “Tesco towns”, a move that would allow the Wal-Mart-owned retailer to build out-of-town superstores on greenfield sites. (The Sunday Telegraph)
Support services
Computer Patent Annuities Hundreds of British patent and trademark lawyers are poised to land a multimillion-pound fortune from the sale of Computer Patent Annuities, the patent management company, which is based in Jersey. (The Sunday Telegraph)
Technology
Yahoo!, the US online search engine, is seeking to restart merger talks with AOL, the internet group, as a way to defend itself against a $45 billion (£23 billion) hostile bid approach from Microsoft, the software giant.
Telecoms
Weather Investment Apax Partners, the private equity group, is in talks to take a 5 per cent stake in Weather Investment, the telecoms group, which is owned by Naguib Sawiris, the Egyptian billionaire. (The Sunday Telegraph)
Transport
Go-Ahead, the transport group, will come under pressure on Friday, when it presents interim results, after a month of criticism over fare rises on its Southern and Southeastern train franchises.
Silverjet The Reuben brothers, the property tycoons, are expected to shelve their plans to become shareholders in Silverjet, the business-class airline, after a slump in its share price. (The Sunday Times)
Utilities
British Energy, the nuclear power group, is this week expected to report a hefty additional dividend for shareholders as it benefits from high energy prices. (The Sunday Times)
Share tips
The Sunday Telegraph: buy BP (natural resources), BGlobal (engineering); hold Chaucer Holdings (banking and finance) The Mail on Sunday: buy Care UK (support services)