Strong, but not unanimous support for June cut. Opinion is divided on what to do next. An early exit by Lagarde would not cause sudden shift in policy. A 25bp interest rate cut next week, taking the deposit rate to 2.0%, looks very likely. But divisions …
29th May 2025
The South African Reserve bank resumed its interest rate easing cycle today, with a 25bp cut to 7.25%, and there was a marked dovish shift among the MPC, suggesting – as we have long thought – that the repo rate will decline further over this year. The …
We forecast a 150,000 gain in non-farm payrolls in May. Federal job losses may increase as severance periods end, but initial claims suggest any impact will once again be modest. We expect the unemployment rate to have held steady, while wage growth …
Despite a positive initial reaction in global stock markets to yesterday’s ruling by the US Court of International Trade (CIT), there is still plenty of uncertainty about future tariffs on US imports. So a really big boost to equities may not be on the …
Leading indicators suggest most of the recent weakness in housing demand and prices is due to the temporary influence of the change in stamp duty rather than any longer-lasting influence of the softer outlook for the UK economy. This lends support to our …
Yesterday’s US court ruling has added yet more uncertainty to the EU-US trade relationship and at face value has weakened President Trump’s position. But the risk of tariffs remains very real not least because sectoral tariffs, which are unaffected by the …
China’s turn to woo the Gulf The GCC-ASEAN-China summit underway this week contained a lot of platitudes, but it doesn’t change our view that the Gulf’s geopolitical alignment is tilting away from China and towards the US. For China, the summit was an …
In this Update, we answer several key questions about how the US Court of International Trade (CIT) tariff ruling might affect the US and other economies. The outlook may now rest on the decision of the Republican-stacked Supreme Court. The upside risks …
Falling inflation, downside risks to growth to prompt another cut to repo rate next week Another 25bp cut to 5.75% seems most likely Consensus has caught up to our long-held view of 100bps of cuts in this cycle With headline inflation now at a …
Although continued trade tensions have heightened economic uncertainty, they have had only a modest impact on consumer and business sentiment in the Antipodes. Indeed, we think the Australian economy will grow at around its trend rate over the coming …
There were few major changes in the May IPF Consensus Survey despite increased economic uncertainty. Total returns at the all-property level are forecast to be around 8.0% p.a. over 2025-29, which leaves our forecast of 7.5% p.a. toward the bottom end of …
We suspect most of the recent weakness in housing demand and prices is due to the temporary influence of the rise in stamp duty on 1st April rather than any longer-lasting influence from the softer outlook for the UK economy. This supports our view that a …
The recent substantial volatility in global sovereign bond markets hasn’t altered our view that in most cases 10-year government bond yields will end this year near, or below, their current levels. We also think corporate bonds will continue to do quite …
In response to US tariffs, Chinese exports that previously directly served US demand increasingly do so indirectly via third countries. This dashboard provides bottom-up estimates of indirect China-US trade based on the within-product group overlap …
The dovish tone adopted by the Bank of Korea today, alongside what we think will be continued weakness of the economy suggest that further interest rate cuts are likely in the coming months. The decision to lower the policy rate by 25bps to 2.50% – the …
Court ruling adds another layer of uncertainty on Trump’s tariffs The ruling by the three-judge panel of the Federal Court of International Trade blocking President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs will presumably be appealed by the administration all the way …
Further easing coming With the economy set to struggle and concerns about inflation unlikely to resurface anytime soon, we expect the Bank of Korea to remain in easing mode after today’s 25bp cut. The decision to lower the policy rate to 2.50% – the …
Officials worried that tariff inflation boost could become persistent The minutes of the Fed’s early-May policy meeting were, on balance, slightly hawkish. In particular, “almost all participants commented on the risk that inflation could prove to be more …
28th May 2025
Summary of Deliberations from April meeting struck a dovish note despite Bank’s pause Labour market is weakening while upside risks to inflation have eased Bank set to cut policy rate to 2.5% despite market pricing to the contrary We suspect the Bank …
Our China Activity Proxy suggests that the economy’s growth slowed in April. But, so far, US tariffs seem to have had a bigger impact on consumer sentiment than industrial activity, with rerouting and renminbi depreciation helping to offset the fall in …
This report is part of our Future of Europe series. Read more analysis, explore the supporting data, and learn about our broader European coverage on the dedicated Future of Europe page. The ECB’s forthcoming assessment of its 2021 strategy review won’t …
The early evidence suggests that EM exports have held up well, despite higher US tariffs. That’s partly because exporters have front-loaded shipments to the US or have avoided high tariffs via third countries. So long as this remains the case, we expect …
Debate around whether or not India’s economy has surpassed Japan’s in size is raging, but the big picture is that India was always going to overtake Japan – and also Germany – given its positive demographics and scope for continued productivity gains. So …
Muted PPI suggests core PCE inflation still on downward trend The March PPI data show the folly of relying too much on the CPI data. Our calculations suggest that, based on the combined inputs from PPI and CPI, core PCE prices increased by a more muted …
Although the global tariff environment now appears to be heading towards a far more benign environment than had appeared likely a month or so ago, it still represents a demand shock that will prove a headwind to commodity demand and prices. Against an …
Africa Chart Pack (May. 2025) …
The pandemic is firmly in our collective rear-view mirrors, but five years on, its effects continue to drive real estate performance differentials. We expect it to remain integral to driving winners and losers over the next five years and into the 2030s. …
The latest low-profile data suggest that Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy has started to lose momentum. And with the shift to a more aggressive oil output policy causing oil prices to fall, further fiscal consolidation is in the pipeline, which will weigh …
As was widely expected, the RBNZ cut its Official Cash rate by 25bp, to 3.25%, today. The revelation that the decision to cut was not a unanimous one has been interpreted as a hawkish signal by financial markets. However, we would put more emphasis on the …
Despite all of the debt and deficit news out of the US, the spotlight in ultra-long bond markets has increasingly been focused on Japan. The surge in yields there last week seems to have sparked a global sell-off, and the subsequent plan from Japan’s …
RBNZ cuts by 25bp, signals further easing is likely With the RBNZ clearly concerned about the health of the economy, we continue to believe that its easing cycle has much further to run. The RBNZ’s decision to cut rates by 25bp, to 3.25%, at its meeting …
Hot CPI print will give the RBA pause for thought With underlying price pressures proving somewhat persistent, we're sticking to our view that the RBA won't cut rates as far as markets are anticipating. According to the monthly CPI indicator, headline …
The 10-year Treasury term premium, as estimated by ACM , rose to a more-than-decade high of ~0.9% last week amid renewed concerns about US fiscal policy. But while the premium remains far below the ~4% it topped in the early 1990s, for example, we doubt …
27th May 2025
For most of the time since the euro was established, the ECB’s “one size fits all” interest rate policy was a major problem for the single currency area. It contributed to imbalances between countries in the 2000s and to a prolonged downturn in peripheral …
We doubt that the region’s strong start to the year will be sustained given the backdrop of lower commodity prices, tight policy and, in Mexico’s case in particular, uncertainty around US trade policy. Despite the recent dovish shift by many of the …
Resilience of core orders likely to be temporary The rebound in core durable goods orders in April wraps up a month of solid activity data, underscoring that tariffs have yet to inflict the severe damage on the economy some had feared. Nonetheless, the …
Easing inflation increases chances of a hold at Copom’s June meeting The fall in Brazil’s headline inflation rate to 5.4% y/y in the first half of May means that the risks to our forecast for a final hike in June are skewed to the downside. But if the Q1 …
Easing cycle to remain on pause, but tariff risks grow larger The Hungarian central bank (MNB) left its base rate on hold again today, at 6.50%, and we think it is likely that above-target inflation will prevent interest rate cuts being delivered this …
Less favourable conditions for global goods production and trade will be yet another factor weighing on demand for industrial metals and supports our view that prices will fall by more than the consensus expects. While we expect price declines across …
Regional growth resilient (for now) despite tariffs The European Commission's Economic Sentiment Indicators for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) suggest that pockets of the region are starting to feel the bite from US tariffs, but that overall regional …
Economy weak, inflation expectations eased May’s euro-zone business and consumer survey from the European Commission shows a small improvement in sentiment, but the data are still consistent with the economy struggling. And the price expectations indices …
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused grain prices to surge to record levels in 2022, but a peace deal won’t lead to large falls in prices. This is mainly because Ukrainian grain production has already largely recovered from the war-related disruption. …
The well-known quality issues with the UK’s labour market data might well extend to some of the other UK economic data. This matters as it could have a critical bearing on policy decisions and lead to economic growth and inflation that is either too high …
European residential property outperformed all-property for the third consecutive year in 2024 and our updated forecasts suggest that this will continue over the coming five years. Returns were especially strong in the Netherlands, but going forward we …
The bulk of the evidence suggests that the recent sharp slowdown in regular earnings growth is a statistical anomaly rather than genuine. With this year’s spring wage negotiations resulting in the fastest pay hikes in decades, we still expect the Bank of …
Although the détente in the trade war may provide some respite to the Chinese economy in the near term, we remain pessimistic about its longer run prospects. The slowdown in China will undoubtedly have negative spillovers for Australia’s mining sector, …
BoI leaves rates on hold, timeline for easing slipping back The Bank of Israel (BoI) left its policy rate unchanged as expected at 4.50% again today, but the accompanying communications took a slightly more hawkish tone on inflation. We think the easing …
26th May 2025
Over to the Senate The House passed its “One Big Beautiful Bill” budget reconciliation on Thursday, which extends the 2018 Trump tax cuts beyond this year, raises the personal exemption for retirees, and eliminates taxes on tips and overtime pay. To …
23rd May 2025
