With demand for LNG unlikely to keep pace with the looming surge in supply over the coming years, a glut of natural gas will weigh heavily on benchmark prices in Asia and Europe. Our forecasts for prices to fall to pre-pandemic levels over our forecast …
2nd April 2025
We expect the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to cut its Official Cash Rate by 25bp, to 3.5%, at its next meeting on 9 th April. Although activity is now on the mend, spare capacity will ease only gradually, consistent with a sustained decline in …
Although US corporate credit spreads have taken their cue from US equities over the past couple of years, we don't think they will reach new lows even if equities reach new highs. The sell-off in US stocks that started on the 19 th Feb has been …
1st April 2025
The EM manufacturing PMI ticked up in March on the back of a pick-up in China as well as a continued recovery in Central and Eastern Europe. But tariffs present a major headwind to EMs’ industrial sectors, and the surveys already suggest that Mexico’s is …
The latest PMIs suggest that global industry is heading into Q2 on a weaker footing. Meanwhile, price pressures accelerated sharply in the US but generally eased elsewhere. The output component of the global manufacturing PMI fell to 50.5 in March from …
February’s JOLTS data show a labour market settling back into its pre-pandemic norms. With limited signs of DOGE’s trimming of the federal workforce in the survey, all eyes will now turn to March’s employment report, due on Friday. Job openings fell to …
Underlying inflation problems in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America and perennial exchange rate worries in Indonesia mean that their central banks are, if anything, likely to react hawkishly to the effects of US import tariffs. Interest rates …
Fall suggests manufacturing renaissance remains elusive The slight dip in the ISM manufacturing index in March suggests that, rather than triggering a reshoring factory renaissance, the uncertainty surrounding President Trump’s tariff threats are …
Falling inflation will prompt another cut to repo rate next week, regardless of tariffs Another 25bp cut to 6.00% seems most likely We expect more cuts in this cycle than the consensus is forecasting The recent sharp drop in headline CPI inflation means …
Services inflation down sharply March’s big decline in euro-zone services inflation strengthens the case for the ECB to cut interest rates at the meeting on 17 th April. The small fall in euro-zone headline inflation from 2.3% in February to 2.2% in March …
Central Europe recovering, Russia faltering The rise in the manufacturing PMIs in Central Europe in March adds to evidence that the region is recovering from its recent soft patch. In contrast, the drop in Russia’s PMI suggests the economy may be starting …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. House prices continue to lose momentum The stagnation in Nationwide house prices in March suggests any boost from buyers rushing to complete home purchases ahead of the rise in …
The March PMIs for Asia were generally subdued, supporting our view that GDP growth in the region is set to remain below trend in the near term. And with inflation back to target in most economies, we think central banks in the region will continue to …
While the RBA is becoming increasingly confident that inflation will sustainably return to target, we still expect its easing cycle to be shallower than most anticipate. The RBA’s decision to leave its policy rate unchanged at 4.10% was correctly …
RBA’s easing cycle will be shallow While the RBA is becoming increasingly confident that inflation will sustainably return to target, we still expect its easing cycle to be shallow. The Bank’s decision to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.10% was …
Australian house price growth remained soft in March, amid still-weak housing demand. Although the RBA’s easing cycle could help deliver a shift in momentum later this year, stretched affordability is likely to constrain the strength of the rebound. Much …
Consumer spending remains muted With consumers seemingly keeping spending on a tight leash, there is a risk that the RBA will loosen policy a bit more than we currently expect this cycle. The 0.2% m/m rise in retail sales values in February was a touch …
Tankan suggests economy is firing on all cylinders While business conditions were unchanged in the latest Tankan survey, the survey suggests that an increasingly overheating economy is creating strong price pressures. The Tankan’s headline measure of …
While the recent outperformance of euro-zone stocks relative to US ones may have a bit further to run, we doubt European equities would hold up in absolute terms if US stocks fell much further. The renewed sell-off in the US stock market has added to its …
31st March 2025
Our View: The economies of Central and Eastern Europe appear to have ended Q1 on a positive note, and Germany’s fiscal U-turn has improved prospects for regional export demand – we have recently revised up our GDP growth forecasts slightly for this year …
Ahead of reciprocal tariffs being announced on April 2 nd , dubbed “liberation day”, this Update addresses to what extent US commodities trade could be caught in the crossfire. The most exposed commodities are generally industrial metals, especially …
Likely fall in services inflation points to April cut National inflation figures released so far suggest that euro-zone headline inflation edged down in March. Services inflation probably also fell, which will please ECB officials. The fall in German …
Overview – We’ve become more concerned about the outlook for the economy due to the drags from higher businesses taxes and the more uncertain global backdrop being bigger than we thought and the boost from government spending being smaller. Our forecasts …
The blowout in Mexico’s budget deficit to its largest level since the 1980s last year means that the government has little scope to offset the hit to the economy from US tariffs. There’ll probably be some slippage on the government’s plans to rein in the …
Whilst buying gold may reduce central banks’ overall exposure to the dollar, we don’t think that the surge in central bank gold demand reflects a severe loss of confidence in the greenback. Instead, the perception of gold itself as a safe haven is …
The US would have to exert a lot of pressure to coerce most major countries into putting large tariffs on goods from China . Curtailing trade with China would have an economic cost and even countries that have closer economic ties with the US would still …
The recent scrapping of the carbon tax in Canada shows that the political pushback against climate policy is certainly not just confined to the United States. But to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumours of the death of climate policy are greatly exaggerated; …
The President is calling it “Liberation Day”, but nobody knows exactly what the White House will come up with when the long-awaited reciprocal tariffs plan is finally unveiled on 2nd April – including, it seems, the administration itself. Initial …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Tentative signs households may be starting to spend a bit more freely February’s money and lending figures provide some green shoots of households starting to save less and spend …
Net lending to property rises to close to a 5-year high Net lending to property continued its recent run of strength in February, with total lending of £1.58bn up from £917m in January and the highest monthly figure since May 2020. As usual the rise was …
Africa Chart Pack (Mar. 2025) …
Services weakness holding back growth This report was first published on the 31 st March covering the official PMIs. We added commentary on the Caixin manufacturing PMI on 1 st April. The PMIs suggest that infrastructure spending is ramping up again and …
There’s a “whiff of stagflation” around the US economy – and that’s even before Donald Trump rolls out his reciprocal tariffs plan. Group Chief Economist Neil Shearing hops off a plane from New York and onto The Weekly Briefing from Capital Economics to …
28th March 2025
Despite President Trump’s decision to jump the gun with tariffs on the auto sector this week (ahead of next week’s widely trailed announcement on 2 nd April), the dollar is ending the week broadly flat on net. In part, that may be on account of the damage …
Motor vehicle tariffs to boost inflation The Trump administration’s 25% tariffs on most motor vehicle and some parts imports is an upside risk to our inflation forecasts. As a reminder, our forecasts have long been based on the assumption that Trump would …
Hopes of making it a week without any new tariff news were dashed on Wednesday when President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on motor vehicle and parts imports from April 3 rd . Despite accounting for 10% of Canada’s goods exports to the US, the hit …
The UK may have one of the most shielded economies against US tariffs. But stagflation and fiscal risks at home provide strong headwinds for its bond market. The UK is likely to get to the other side of US tariffs unscathed compared to other economies . …
China Chart Pack (Mar. 25) …
With all the major business surveys for March now published, it is clear that while sentiment in the euro-zone has jumped, activity is still growing slowly at best. The more sentiment-driven ZEW and Sentix indices recorded big increases but the Composite …
Trump’s auto tariffs to deal limited blow to SA South Africa finds itself in the firing line from US President Trump’s auto tariffs, but the macro impact will be limited and other developments over the past week have been more positive for the country’s …
Red hot, red metal As it stands, there is still no clarity on when, or indeed if , the US administration will announce tariffs on copper imports. The US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, ostensibly has until November to prepare his report on …
Solid rise in GDP not a sign of things to come The stronger-than-expected 0.4% m/m rise in GDP in January, along with an upward revision to the December outturn, shows the economy still had solid momentum at the start of this year. The weak February …
Tariffs – UK still not very exposed The announcement of US reciprocal tariffs on 2 nd April will dominate next week. The UK has mostly flown under the radar of Trump’s tariffs and its economy is naturally less exposed than others – our Trade War Dashboard …
Inflation too hot and spending too cold The third consecutive above-target gain in core PCE prices in February, of 0.37% m/m, reinforces our view that the Fed is unlikely to cut interest rates this year. Admittedly, officials are likely to be concerned by …
Overview – Economies across Sub-Saharan Africa are amongst the least affected EMs by the protectionist shift that the US is embracing. And growth in the region is set for a modest pick-up on the back of lower inflation and easing monetary policy. But …
In a further escalation of his trade war, US President Trump on Wednesday announced a 25% tariff on assembled motor vehicles and some key components: engines and engine parts, transmissions and powertrain parts, and electrical components. (See our initial …
Autos now in the crosshairs The Trump administration’s announcement of a 25% import tariff on autos and some auto parts will have a particularly large impact on Hungary and Slovakia. Our detailed response on Thursday to the tariff news can be found here . …
Exports will take a hit soon The US vehicle tariffs announced this week will do little damage to China as its auto exports to the US account for less than 0.05% of GDP. But the “ reciprocal tariffs ” that President Trump is due to announce on Wednesday …
