On Thursday, market focus will then turn to earnings from Goldman Sachs, as well as results from Morgan Stanley (MS) and BlackRock (BLK).
Commenting on sector performance more broadly, Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said that last year was a “strong year for US financials with earnings season set to be another potential positive catalyst for the sector underpinned by a stronger-than-expected US economy”.
“Over the last year, the US has proven to be more resilient than anticipated with strong consumer spending, relatively tame inflation and robust growth despite the pressures from Trump’s tariffs,” she said. “This is likely to help to support banks’ loan growth in the fourth quarter and in the year ahead amid the White House’s pro-growth agenda.”
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Scholar said that investors will be looking banks’ net interest margins – the difference between interest earnings on assets versus interest paid on liabilities.
In addition, she said that there are “high hopes for investment banking revenues after a strong rebound in dealmaking activity in the prior quarter. Investors will be watching to see how IB [investment banking] fees performed in Q4 to gauge whether M&A and IPO activity continues to make a comeback.”
Scholar said that banks’ trading activity is likely to have performed well in the fourth quarter, particularly in equities, given market volatility in November over AI bubble jitters.
“Banks’ FICC [fixed income, currencies and commodities] trading revenues will also be closely watched,” she added.
In the third quarter, Goldman Sachs reported net revenue of $15.18bn, which was 20% higher than the same period a year earlier. Net interest income came in at $3.82bn, which was up 64% year-on-year. Meanwhile, net earnings increased by 37% to $4.1bn.
December revenue figures from TSMC, released on Friday 9 January, have given investors an idea of the chipmaker’s performance in the fourth quarter and across 2025.
The company reported revenue of approximately TWD335 billion (£7.9bn) for December, which was down 2.5% from November but was up 20.4% on a year earlier.
This meant revenue for the fourth quarter totalled around TWD1.05tn, based on Yahoo Finance UK calculations. According to a Reuters report, this was ahead of an LSEG SmartEstimate of TWD1.036tn.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell (AJB.L), said that TSMC’s earnings on Thursday, “there will be close attention on what the company has to say about the outlook for the current quarter and the whole of 2026.”
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“TSMC’s dominant market position has enabled it to capitalise on the huge expansion in AI spending in recent years and this has compensated for the easing revenue associated with chips used in consumer electronics,” he said.
Mould highlighted that fellow Taiwanese tech company Foxconn (2317.TW), which is the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, “also unveiled bumper sales earlier this week”.
“For both companies it is their position at the nexus of a key geopolitical hotspot in an increasingly uncertain world which may be the nagging concern for investors,” he said. “Particularly, if this starts to act as a driver for customers to meaningfully diversify their supply chains.”
“However, TSMC’s scale and expertise remains unrivalled in the chip making universe and there is little sign of that changing for now,” Mould added.
The UK housebuilding sector continues to struggle amid economic uncertainty, as survey released earlier this week showed that activity has remained in its deepest slump since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
While uncertainty around the autumn budget has passed, broader concerns about the UK’s economic outlook and affordability for buyers loom over the sector.
That said, Interactive Investor’s head of markets Richard Hunter said that “there are a number of tailwinds which could yet revitalise the sector”.
“More broadly, there remains a noticeable supply shortage of homes domestically, government reforms to planning should oil the wheels of being able to break ground, and the recent interest rate cut is a step in the right direction if not the ultimate goal,” he said.
He said that Persimmon, for its part, “is opening its strategic doors where possible”.
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“Over the first half, the group made £210m ($282m) of land purchases at what it describes as ‘excellent margins’, adding to one of the core parts of the investment case for the housebuilder, namely its land bank,” he said.
In addition, he pointed out that Persimmon operates three manufacturing facilities to make its own timber frames, bricks and tiles, which it estimates saves around £5,500 per plot on building costs.
“At the same time, the group has launched its ‘New Build Boost’ scheme in an effort to ease some of the affordability concerns of potential buyers,” he said.
In the company’s trading statement, due out on Tuesday, Hunter said that the focus will be on Persimmon’s forward order book and reservations.
Persimmon reported a 15% increase in forward sales to £2.79bn for the period from 1 July to 2 November, according to a trading statement on 13 November. At the time, group CEO Dean Finch said that the company remained on track to deliver 2025 performance in line with market expectations.
“Even as a preferred play within the sector, Persimmon has been hamstrung by the wider factors over which it has little influence, including but not limited to a faltering domestic economy,” said Hunter. Even so, shares are still up more than 27% over the past year.
Similarly, shares in fellow London-listed housebuilder Vistry (VTY.L) are up by 28% over the past year.
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Vistry’s been on the receiving end of favourable government policies towards affordable housing of late.
“That saw its average weekly sales rates between July and early November rise by 11% compared to the prior year.”
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With the budget out of the way, Chiekrie said that investors will be keen to see how many more partner-funded deals have been completed when Vistry releases its full-year trading update on Wednesday.
He said that pre-tax profit estimates for 2025 point to around 3% growth to £271m, “following a sharp decline in the prior year due to a handful of management missteps”.
“Investors are hoping to hear that continued cost discipline has helped achieve this target, especially as its partnerships model is lower margin than ordinary housebuilding projects,” he said. “Moving forward, striking a positive tone next week will be key to rebuilding investor confidence into the new year.”
