This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Sentiment ticks up, recovery slowing taking shape The European Commission's Economic Sentiment Indicators for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) were another mixed bag in October, …
30th October 2023
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Economy struggling, labour market coming off the boil, price pressures easing October’s business and consumer survey from the European Commission added to the evidence that the …
China’s economy is regaining some momentum after stalling during the summer. A step up in policy support looks set to deliver a modest cyclical recovery but trend growth remains under pressure. … China Chart Pack (Oct. …
Net lending to property totaled £132mn in September, the lowest amount since February. But looking through the monthly volatility, on a 3-month basis lending has totaled more than £1.5bn in every month since March. That compares to an average of £620m …
Approvals bottom out, but will remain low The drop in mortgage approvals in September left them a third below their usual level in the years leading up to the pandemic as high mortgage rates put homeowners off moving and priced many first-time buyers out …
Note: We’ll be discussing the latest Fed, ECB and Bank of England policy decisions in a Drop-In at 3pm GMT on Thursday 2 nd November . (Register here .) This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Drag on lending and …
Foreign direct investment into China, as measured by the balance of payments data, has collapsed. It is tempting to pin this on global fragmentation or a loss of confidence in China’s economic prospects. But the key driver appears to be more prosaic: the …
“Sick” German economy slipping back into recession The small decline in German GDP in the third quarter and upward revision to the previous two quarters means the economy is not doing quite as poorly as anticipated. But GDP has essentially been stagnant …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Pause in the recession Preliminary data released this morning show that the Swedish economy flatlined in Q3 (0.0% q/q) after contracting sharply in the second quarter (-0.8%). …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Surge in retail sales bolsters case for policy tightening With Australia’s retail recession likely having ended last quarter, it’s all but certain that the Reserve Bank of …
It's Fed week and Deputy Chief US Economist joins David Wilder to discuss what to expect from the Tuesday-Wednesday FOMC meeting, including how the recent surge in long bond yields could influence the decision and accompanying language. Andrew also …
29th October 2023
Which countries are leading the AI race? What role is AI playing amid growing strategic competition between the US and China? Does AI spell doom for EM outsourcing industries? Moneli Hall-Harris from our Consultancy division and Deputy Chief EM …
20th October 2023
5% Treasury yields, geopolitics vs the Fed, China’s dollar dilemma, an AI stock bubble and more …
Despite another week of broadly dollar-positive news, the greenback has continued to drift sideways – suggesting its rally since July is running out of steam. Even though US Q3 GDP came in at nearly 5% annualised growth, while data in Europe continued to …
27th October 2023
Today’s rebound in Amazon’s share price following news that its sales were better than expected in Q3 has shored up the performance of the ‘Magnificent 7’ in what has otherwise been a tough week for most of them amid a mixed bag of reports, lingering …
European natural gas prices have fallen a long way from their 2022 peaks and the possibility of another energy crisis this winter now looks remote. However, prices are still much higher than they were before the pandemic and much higher than in the US – …
The conflict between Israel and Hamas continued to drive commodity prices this week. Oil prices fell back while gold prices defied the stronger dollar and held steady. Elsewhere, forecasts of cold weather sent US natural gas prices soaring. (See Chart …
The string of central bank meetings across Emerging Europe this week highlighted the unique challenges that policymakers across the region are currently facing, but one common thread in all countries is that inflation risks are persisting and we think …
Food prices risk delaying Africa interest rate cuts Inflation across Africa has been falling back recently, but persistent food price pressures pose a threat to policymaker’s ambitions to start cutting interest rates. The SARB’s Deputy Governor Fundi …
The Bank of Canada’s insistence that inflationary risks have increased seems at odds with its new forecasts, which show a large degree of economic slack opening up next year. Our view that the Bank is still overestimating the near-term outlook for both …
The preliminary data for Q3 were sobering, with euro-zone prime yields moving up significantly more than expected. This confirms the 2022-23 real estate contraction as the worst on record and, with offices the key driver, it now looks like the value falls …
Argentina: it’s not the economy, stupid? Elections in Argentina rarely fail to surprise and Sunday’s vote was no exception. While it was widely expected that the election would go to a run-off between Peronist and current Economy Minister Sergio Massa …
Has the AI productivity boom already begun? New Speaker, old problems The House Republicans finally managed to elect a new Speaker this week, with the caucus eventually rallying around Mike Johnson, who up until this week could hardly have been described …
This week’s data releases provide further evidence that the euro-zone is probably in a mild recession. The euro-zone Composite PMI declined to a level consistent with GDP contracting by 0.2% q/q (see here ) and although the Ifo Business Climate Indicator …
Stronger rise in core prices likely to be a blip The stronger gains in real consumption and the core PCE price index in September are a potential concern for Fed officials, but won’t be enough to convince them to resume raising interest rates next week, …
Giving with one hand, taking with the other Earlier this week, China’s legislature increased the government’s planned annual budget deficit from 3.0% of GDP to 3.8%. This was the first mid-year revision since 2008 and only the fifth in the PRC’s history. …
Note: We’ll be discussing the latest Fed, ECB and Bank of England policy decisions in a Drop-In at 3pm GMT on Thursday 2 nd November . (Register here .) In the last few months there has been more concern over the accuracy of key economic data. The recent …
Strengthening ties with the Quad India’s government is pushing ahead with efforts to make India a key link in global manufacturing supply chains. The Cabinet this week approved a Memorandum of Cooperation with Japan on a semiconductor supply chain …
Taiwan’s growth moderated in Q3 Activity data published this week for Taiwan paint a mixed picture of the economy. Consumer demand is coming off the boil but exports have rebounded. More details will be available in the Q3 GDP figures due next week. …
CBR delivers a larger hike as fiscal risks mount Russia’s central bank (CBR) opted for a larger-than-expected 200bp interest rate hike, to 15.00%, at today’s meeting and, while policymakers seemed to signal that the tightening cycle is at an end, we think …
Global goods trade rose slightly in August and timelier data point to further gains in September. But we expect global trade to fall again in due course as economic downturns in several advanced economies weigh on their demand for traded goods. According …
Economy still growing but set to weaken GDP data for Spain in Q3 were a bit stronger than expected and showed that the economy was proving more resilient in the face of high interest rates than anticipated. But the outlook is still weak. The 0.3% q/q …
In line with our upwardly revised forecasts for the 10-year US Treasury yield, we’ve raised our projections for 10-year government bond yields in most other developed market economies. But we still expect those yields to fall, in general, by the end of …
BoJ probably won’t tweak Yield Curve Control Media reports suggest that the Bank of Japan may tweak Yield Curve Control yet again at next week’s Board meeting. That’s certainly possible: 10-year JGB yields have risen sharply since the launch of the new …
RBA has more work to do Most of the data published this week highlight the imperative for the RBA tighten policy. To start with, Wednesday’s CPI release showed that Australia’s inflation problem is far from over. In fact, there are two pieces of …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Underlying inflation set to decline further While the jump in inflation in Tokyo to a seven-month high wasn’t nearly as bad as it looks, it is consistent with our view that …
The Q3 RICS survey indicated occupier and investment sentiment fell further in Q3, with the latter reflected in weak investment volumes throughout the summer months. But tight credit conditions and a slowing economy mean the trough in confidence is …
26th October 2023
Weak demand and investment, but capital values nearing the trough Having started the year on a somewhat promising footing, all-property occupier demand has weakened since and fell further in Q3. The demand balances for offices and retail remained …
Spreads in Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain have diverged in unusual directions this year, and we doubt that these trends will revert any time soon. As was universally anticipated, the ECB stood pat at its meeting today: policy rates were kept unchanged …
Norges Bank is almost certain to leave its policy rate unchanged at 4.25% next week. And we suspect that, given September’s weak inflation data, it will also soften its language about implementing one final rate hike in December. Next year, we think the …
We think the Chilean peso is poised for a rebound in 2024 as the headwinds from the narrowing interest rate differential and the terms of trade deterioration reverse. The Chilean peso has underperformed nearly all other major emerging market currencies …
Although US high-yield (HY) corporate bonds are more attractively valued than at any time since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), we doubt they will outperform US equities over the next couple of years. The yield of ICE BofA’s index of US HY corporate …
Following today’s decision to leave interest rates on hold, the ECB’s tightening cycle appears to be over. We think that rates will stay at their current levels well into next year. The Governing Council did not discuss accelerating the pace of QT today, …
Our new higher forecasts for US Treasury yields mean that mortgage rates won’t fall as quickly as we previously predicted. While we still expect mortgage rates to decline they are unlikely to fall below 6.0% before end-2025, muting any recovery in house …
After the 336,000 jump in non-farm payrolls in September, we expect a more modest 200,000 increase in October. Moreover, despite some strength in labour demand, wage growth continues to ease. September’s unexpectedly-strong 336,000 rise in non-farm …
We think the cautious oil market reaction to the outbreak of conflict in Israel probably reflects the huge uncertainty about the eventual outcome, but also a somewhat lower “Middle East” risk premium. For context, the Brent crude oil price has risen by …
Saudi real estate market stuck in a gully The mortgage market in Saudi Arabia has struggled this year as interest rates have surged, which appears to be adding to the trend of the past few years of suppressed land and house prices. Data published over the …
US households still the world’s spenders of last resort On its own, the stunningly-strong 4.9% annualised gain in third-quarter GDP suggests that the Fed needs to do even more to slow demand, but just as notable was the slowdown in core PCE inflation to …
ECB policy rates at a plateau Today’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged, and the tone of the press release, were as expected. There is no mention of ending PEPP reinvestments early or raising banks’ reserve requirements, but in the press …
