Markets · The week ahead
A Fed Hike Is Now the Base Case; Next Reports Thursday With Expectations "Sky-High"
Luxury enters the week on its lows. LVMH closed Friday at €415.30, down 35.6 percent for the year and 2.5 percent above its 52-week low; Hermès, at €1,399.50, is 0.3 percent above its own. HSBC's downgrades of both LVMH and Burberry set the tone; only Richemont (+2.8%), Fast Retailing (+16.3%) and Next (+7.4%) are positive in 2026.
Wednesday brings the Federal Reserve. With July inflation at 4.1 percent, a 25-basis-point rise is the base case in futures pricing — snapshots this week ranged from roughly 56 to 85 percent — and the riyal peg means the Qatar Central Bank would be expected to follow the same evening.
Thursday brings Next plc's half-year. Consensus looks for full-year pre-tax profit of £1.243bn (+7.3%) and full-price sales up 6.3 percent, with international online the engine (+36.9% in the second quarter). Bloomberg's weekend note that shoppers now "put value ahead of labels" is the frame for both.
“Expectations are sky-high given Next's habit of under-promising.” Richard Hunter, Interactive Investor — ahead of Thursday's results, 11 September
Full board, Next preview and calendar, Page 2
Sources: IG, 11 Sep · TheIndustry.fashion, 11 Sep · Yahoo Finance (FedWatch) · Bigdata.com tearsheets (11 Sep close) · IG, 11 Sep · TheIndustry.fashion, 11 Sep · Yahoo Finance (FedWatch)