Live news updates: The week ahead

The long hot summer is drawing to a close. And while resolutions to the current economic and political strife appear a long way from resolution — the UK’s summer of discontent, for instance, is turning into an autumn of industrial unrest — we will enter a new season of leadership in the next seven days.

The UK’s Conservative party leadership election will (at last) be completed on Monday. Unless polling to data has been wildly inaccurate, Liz Truss will claim the prize and name a new cabinet. The FT will be providing full analysis of these events.

Sweden’s Magdalena Andersson is hoping to be reappointed as premier as her country goes to the polls on Sunday. Like both the outgoing and incoming British prime minister, Andersson rose to power in chaotic circumstances after her party had already governed the country for several years. Unlike the British PM, Andersson is more popular than her party and her rivals. This election, however, is much closer to call than that of the UK’s Conservative party vote.

US president Joe Biden will be out on the stump with November’s midterm elections very much on his mind. The week will end with reflection for the US as it passes the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Another Conservative party leadership election will also finish this Saturday, in Canada. The contest — kick-started in February with the resignation of Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole — makes the British Tory leadership contest look a bit rushed. But Canada’s Conservatives have the luxury of taking their time because whoever wins will not be immediately running the country.

Economic data

The week will begin with an Opec+ meeting. Saudi Arabia last month warned it could push for a cut in oil production if prices keep falling.

The European Central Bank’s monetary policy committee meets on Thursday. Last week’s drop in eurozone unemployment has fuelled speculation that the central bank will accelerate its tightening cycle to curb eurozone inflation with a 0.75 percentage point rise.

There are also inflation and trade figures from China, industrial production data from Germany, jobs figures from Canada and international service sector comparisons with the latest round of purchasing managers’ index data. The holiday season is officially over.

It is Labor Day on Monday which means the US markets will be closed.

Companies

Apple unveils its new iPhone range.

Among those expected to deliver some fairly positive news is Ashtead, the equipment hire group. Supply chain constraints and economic uncertainty have pushed companies to rent equipment from Ashtead rather than buy it, chief executive Brendan Horgan said in June.

This will be further enhanced by a pipeline of infrastructure projects about to take shape, according to Steve Woolf at investment bank Numis. “The medium-term outlook is supported by infrastructure spending, with a significant volume of large-scale projects due to break ground over the next 12 to 18 months,” he wrote.

Read the full week ahead calendar here.