Ending the year with a fizzle

Hello and welcome to the last working week of the year,

One of the few things that seem to unite the world is the shared belief that they can spend the last hours of the year in pure happiness. But not this year. Several of the major calendar date change celebrations have been canceled due to the advent of the new variant of Omicron coronavirus.

This starts – if we count the time from the international date line – with Auckland, where the city’s main fireworks display will not take place now. Same goes for Singapore, where the annual Marina Bay exhibition will not take place for the second year in a row to minimize mass gatherings and the spread of Covid-19. At the other end of the New Year’s circumnavigation, Los Angeles canceled the downtown exhibition in Grand Park.

The federal government’s proposals to ban anyone from firing pyrotechnics in crowded public places did not go down well with a population who viewed the ability to set off fireworks as a basic human right.

London’s main fireworks display was canned some time ago, but Mayor Sadiq Khan has now said that an alternative celebration for up to 6,500 people in Trafalgar Square cannot take place either due to rising Covid cases in the UK capital. Instead, Londoners can watch a BBC New Year’s Eve program “which will showcase our great city to the rest of the world,” Khan said in an official statement. In Scotland, by order of the Government of Holyrood, major street parties in Hogmanay are being canceled.

One thing that Covid cannot stop is the political speeches, so the numerous New Year’s speeches by the heads of state and government will take place as planned – too many to mention here individually.

Nor can Covid prevent Germany from taking over the G7 presidency and France taking over the revolving EU presidency. A milestone is reached in sport as Debbie Hewitt becomes the first female president of the English Football Association.

This will be the last Week Ahead for 2021. Next week we look forward to 2022 with a one-off year-by-month guide before normal service resumes on January 9th. Happy New Year – jonathan.moules @ ft.com.

Economic data

The economic and corporate reports for the next seven days are understandably thin, but Japan and the US will report unemployment and there is a manufacturing PMI from China.

This newsletter is all about alerting you to future events, but I outdid myself by announcing Heineken’s annual results last week – they won’t happen until February 16, 2022.

Important economic and company reports

Here is a more complete list of what to expect in terms of corporate reports and economic data this week.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

• UK Bank of England’s capital issuance figures

• United States, State Street Investor Confidence Index

• Vietnam, monthly inflation, trade, industrial production data

Thursday

Friday

• China manufacturing purchasing managers index data

• UK, London Stock Exchange closes early for the New Years celebrations

World events

Finally, an overview of other events and milestones this week.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

• Ireland, Constitution Day

• Germany, the Four Hills Tournament for ski jumping starts in Oberstdorf

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

• New Year

• Covid Memorial Day marked worldwide

• France takes over the EU Council Presidency

• Germany takes over the G7 presidency

• Norway takes over the chairmanship of the UN Security Council

• United Kingdom, Debbie Hewitt becomes the first female president of the football association in its 157-year history

• The Mayor of the United States and New York City, Eric Adams, takes office

• USA ends tariffs on EU steel products. In return, the EU has canceled a planned increase in retaliatory tariffs, which will come into force on December 1st

Sunday