SHARES in the 2021 stock market darling Ashtead may have yet to recover to the heights they achieved at the end of that extraordinary year, but the firm is in the sights of analysts this week for more than just its own prospects.

It will declare first quarters tomorrow, with economics zooming in on the company as a bellwether of the health of the UK economy.

Ashtead generates more than £9 in £10 of its profits state--side, with the Sunbelt division doing extraordinary heavy-lifting. If it is doing well, analysts may well see that as a sign that the US economy more broadly might just be able to pull off the lesser-spotted, often-talkedabout soft landing. With Chinese economic growth lagging, the global economy could do with a stars-andstripes flavoured pick-me-up.

Elsewhere on the corporate front, Wednesday will see Barratt report their final years albeit with most analysts far more interested in the guidance towards the year to come. Housebuilding shares have been bruised so far this year, with demand sliding amid higher interest rates, and Barratt will need to go some to reassure. Wednesday will also see final results from Darktrace, with eyes on whether the firm chooses to publish the full findings of EY's report into short-seller allegations it was playing fast and loose with its reporting. The firm was cleared by the accountants. We also have interest rate decisions in Australia and Canada, which might give us some insight into what central bankers discussed in Wyoming last week. The ECB follows the week after, with the Fed and the Bank to report on the 20th and 21st respectively.

(c) 2023 City A.M., source Newspaper