Lloyds Banking Group PLC, BP PLC and sector peers, BT Group PLC and most of the

Banks will be a big theme in the coming week, with , Lloyds, Standard Chartered and NatWest all reporting third-quarter results, while supermajors BP and Shell will also bringing oil and new energy into focus.

That’s far from all the action for the big FTSE names, with BT, GlaxoSmithKline, Next, IAG, Smith & Nephew, Whitbread and WPP among others reporting.

On the other side of the pond, with just over a week until the US election date, it’s an even busier agenda for US earnings, including a Thursday that will jam-packed with the most of the FAANGs, with Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, plus Spotify and Twitter earnings a big potential driver of Wall Street sentiment.

This comes amid scrutiny on big tech that was ramped up this month when the US Department of Justice opened an antitrust case against Google’s parent company.

Before that in the week not much quieter, with Microsoft on Tuesday along with , Merck, AMD, 3M and Caterpillar, and Wednesday featuring , , , Boeing, , Baidu, eBay, Ford and Lyft, while Friday sees ExxonMobil, and Colgate-Palmolive reporting.

With so much resting on a few big names in the US and the election so close, it’s set to be “a volatile week” for stocks, said Neil Wilson at Markets.com, pointing to increased scrutiny on big tech as the US Department of Justice opened an antitrust case against Google’s parent company and with speculation the case could create headwinds for Apple’s services business too. 

A better bunch of bankers?

A useful preview for the UK banking sector has already been provided by Barclays and the big US lenders.

The good news for the sector is provisions for bad debts have come down, with Barclays adding £608mln in the third quarter compared to £1.6bn in the second and £2.1bn in the first.

In the coming week, PLC () steps up on Tuesday, with PLC () and () on Thursday and PLC (LON:NWB) finishing up the week.

Shares in the sector are at long-term lows, with ’s last month falling in line with levels last seen back in 1994 as it was embroiled in new money-laundering allegations.

The Asia-focused lender said in August that it is accelerating restructuring plans, which include 35,000 job cuts, after reporting a 65% drop in first-half pre-tax profit.

After taking US$3bn of loan and asset impairments in the first quarter and US$3.8bn in the second, the consensus forecast in the City is for to unveil further provisions of around US$2bn for the third quarter.

This is estimated to lead to a pre-tax profit of US$2.1bn, compared to US$1.1bn in the second quarter and US$3.2bn in the first.

Looking to the much more UK-focused Lloyds, its provisions were £2.4bn in the second quarter and £1.4bn in the first.

In the second quarter this and a lower net interest margin led to a statutory loss before tax of £602mln, though the UK’s number-one lender pointed to “early signs of recovery” in core markets, such as consumer spending and the housing market.

Along with rival Barclays, analysts expect Lloyds will add a smaller bad loan provision, though with the UK recovery running out of steam and going back into lockdown, investment analyst Susannah Streeter at Hargreaves Lansdown says banks still need to set more cash aside to cover defaults, while low rates continue to hit income.

“These are trends which seem unlikely to disappear any time soon given the current resurgence of coronavirus cases, and the further economic damage which regional lockdowns are likely to cause. However, the bank’s early move into digital services has served it well, and has historically given it one of the lowest cost to income ratios in the industry – a competitive edge in bad times.

“The bank’s growing wealth & insurance business also provides diversification, and is less sensitive to low interest rates than the core banking…