TikTok’s final dance within the US

Hey and welcome to the working week.

It’s out with the outdated, in with the brand new. Joe Biden is starting his final seven days within the White Home earlier than the inauguration ceremony in Washington anoints Donald Trump as president once more. Biden’s legacy, not less than by way of industrial coverage, appears to be like doomed however he’ll little doubt attempt to finish his time period extra gracefully than his predecessor/successor.

There’s a vital company story linked to this handover of energy. TikTok is about to be shut down within the US subsequent Sunday underneath a invoice handed by Congress again in April, requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese language mum or dad firm, to promote its stake within the app or face a ban due to safety issues.

TikTok, which has greater than 170mn US customers, didn’t get this legislation overturned by the US Supreme Court docket final week. However the video app may very well be saved by Trump, who had a Damascene conversion to the social media platform on his highway to the White Home, turning into cheerleader-in-chief for a enterprise he as soon as loathed for its Chinese language hyperlinks.

For individuals who need to get forward of the sport within the subsequent chapter for US politics, the FT might be internet hosting a particular subscriber webinar on January 23. Our panel will present crucial insights into what to anticipate from Trump’s second time period. Register at no cost right here.

Transferring on to a different change on the high: France’s new Prime Minister François Bayrou is anticipated to put out his coverage priorities on Tuesday when he offers his first tackle as premier to French parliament. If you wish to know extra about what makes this “original centrist” politician tick, learn this.

We are actually effectively into a brand new earnings season and outcomes might be coming thick and quick this week. The primary acts are the Wall Avenue banks, reporting fourth-quarter figures.

Notable amongst them, however not essentially for good causes, is Citigroup. The New York-based financial institution, which has struggled to rediscover its type since its close to collapse on the peak of the 2008 monetary disaster, is anticipated to swing to a revenue from a $1.8bn loss within the similar quarter a 12 months earlier. However the important thing goal of the financial institution’s return on tangible fairness is anticipated to fall quick of what’s wanted to achieve chief govt Jane Fraser’s beforehand said targets, in line with analysts.

Lastly, there might be a lot to debate on the world financial outlook. Inflation knowledge might be flowing freely over the subsequent seven days, from India, the US and numerous European international locations. Additionally, the European Central Financial institution publishes its newest financial coverage assembly minutes on Thursday. These are more likely to underline the challenges main economies face in taming the price of dwelling scourge, presumably indicating their subsequent strikes, because the FT editorial board has famous.

There’s a rush of different financial information. China will publish a fourth-quarter GDP replace, plus commerce, retail gross sales, industrial manufacturing and credit score aggregates knowledge. From the US, we may even have retail gross sales and industrial manufacturing figures plus the Nationwide Affiliation of House Builders housing numbers. The UK will furnish the markets with month-to-month GDP, retail gross sales, industrial manufacturing, RICS home worth knowledge. Central banker speeches are additionally going to be plentiful. Extra particulars, and timings, under.

Yet another factor . . . 

Los Angeles has been the centre of media consideration for tragic causes. So will probably be a aid to some within the metropolis that the information of the Oscar nominations will go forward (albeit a few days later than initially deliberate) this coming Sunday. Will Conclave, Emilia Pérez, Anora or The Brutalist win out?

Personally, I don’t actually care, and none of these choices significantly attraction to me, however I’m grateful that I nonetheless have a vibrant native unbiased cinema in my nook of central London — sure, women and gents, the winner is the Genesis. A superb place to observe a movie doesn’t remedy life’s disasters, however it may present a much-needed distraction.

What are your priorities for the week forward? E-mail me at jonathan.moules@ft.com or, in case you are studying this out of your inbox, hit reply.

Key financial and firm studies

Here’s a extra full checklist of what to anticipate by way of firm studies and financial knowledge this week.

Monday

• China: December commerce figures

• EU: Q3 steadiness of funds knowledge

• India: December client worth index (CPI) inflation price knowledge

• UK: annual Make UK/PwC senior manufacturing executives survey

• Outcomes: HCL Applied sciences Q3, PageGroup This fall buying and selling replace

Tuesday

• Financial institution of England deputy governor for monetary stability Sarah Breeden speaks on the Monetary Stability Legislation Discussion board in Zurich, Switzerland

• India: month-to-month wholesale worth index (WPI) inflation price knowledge

• US: December producer worth index (PPI) inflation price knowledge

• Outcomes: Card Manufacturing facility buying and selling replace, Video games Workshop HY, Grafton Group buying and selling replace, Health club Group FY pre-close buying and selling replace, JD Sports activities peak buying and selling assertion, MJ Gleeson buying and selling replace, Ocado Retail This fall buying and selling assertion, OMV This fall buying and selling replace, Persimmon buying and selling replace, Robert Walters This fall buying and selling replace

Wednesday

• Financial institution of England Financial Coverage Committee exterior member Alan Taylor offers a speech at Leeds college, UK

• Opec and IEA month-to-month Oil Market Stories printed

• EU: November industrial manufacturing figures

• France: December CPI inflation price knowledge

• Germany: annual GDP first estimate

• UK: December CPI and PPI inflation price knowledge. Additionally, January personal lease and home worth statistics

• US: December CPI inflation price and actual earnings knowledge. Additionally, Federal Reserve Beige E-book printed

• Ashley Buchanan turns into Kohl’s CEO, succeeding Tom Kingsbury

• Outcomes: Ashmore Q2, Financial institution of New York Mellon This fall, BlackRock This fall, Citigroup This fall, Currys peak buying and selling replace, Fuller, Smith & Turner buying and selling replace, Goldman Sachs This fall, Hays buying and selling replace, Worldwide Distribution Companies Q3 buying and selling replace, JPMorgan Chase This fall, Liontrust Asset Administration 9M/Q3 buying and selling replace, Victorian Plumbing FY, Vistry Group buying and selling replace, Wells Fargo This fall

Thursday

• EU: European Central Financial institution publishes the minutes of its final financial coverage assembly

• Germany: December CPI and harmonised index of client costs (HICP) inflation price knowledge

• Japan: November revised retail gross sales figures

• UK: November GDP estimate. Additionally, RICS residential property market survey

• US: January NAHB Housing Market Index

• Outcomes: Financial institution of America This fall, Deliveroo This fall buying and selling replace, Dunelm Q2 buying and selling replace, Infosys Q3, M&T Financial institution This fall, Morgan Stanley This fall, PNC Monetary Companies This fall, Rathbones buying and selling replace, Rio Tinto This fall operations evaluate (AM in Australia), Safestore FY, Taylor Wimpey buying and selling replace, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Firm This fall, Trustpilot buying and selling replace, UnitedHealth This fall, US Bancorp This fall, Whitbread Q3 buying and selling replace

Friday

• China: revised This fall GDP estimate. Additionally, December retail gross sales, Home Worth Index and industrial output figures

• EU: December HICP inflation price knowledge

• UK: December retail gross sales figures

• US: December industrial manufacturing, constructing permits and housing begins knowledge

• Outcomes: Residents Monetary Group This fall, DFS Furnishings interim buying and selling assertion, Schlumberger This fall, State Avenue This fall

World occasions

Lastly, here’s a rundown of different occasions and milestones this week.

Monday

• India: Hindu holy males carrying swords and tridents will lead thousands and thousands of devotees into the icy waters of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati through the first Shahi Snan (royal bathtub) of the 2025 Kumbh Mela (Pitcher Pageant) within the northern metropolis of Prayagraj. The occasion, held each 12 years, is marked by ritual bathing, prayers and non secular ceremonies believed to cleanse sins and support in non secular liberation

• Japan: Coming of Age Day (Grownup’s Day), a nationwide vacation to encourage those that have just lately entered maturity to change into self-reliant members of society. Municipal governments will host particular coming-of-age ceremonies for 18-year-olds at the moment.

Tuesday

• Orthodox Christian New 12 months

• France: François Bayrou, the nation’s new prime minister, offers his first coverage speech on the Nationwide Meeting in Paris when it returns from recess

• UK: the Nationwide Archives releases beforehand confidential recordsdata from the British secret service, MI5, overlaying occasions and people between 1929 and 1975

• Vatican Metropolis: Hope, a memoir by the pinnacle of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, and the primary autobiography to be printed by a pontiff, goes on sale

Wednesday

• Belgium: Nato army committee in chiefs of defence session begins in Brussels. The agenda features a dialogue on the Euro-Atlantic and the conflict in Ukraine.

• US: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on account of launch in Florida, carrying the Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost lunar lander to the moon, as a part of Nasa’s Industrial Lunar Payload Companies initiative

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

• Orthodox Christian Epiphany

• US: President-elect Donald Trump holds a rally in Washington forward of his inauguration on Monday. Additionally, the 97th Academy Awards nominations might be introduced in Los Angeles, and America’s TikTok ban is because of come into pressure