Overview – With exports collapsing and countries across the region implementing draconian restrictions on travel and commerce, economic activity in Emerging Asia will contract sharply this year. Parts of South East Asia and Hong Kong are likely to be the …
15th April 2020
Overview – The economy is heading for a record drop in GDP of 35% annualised in the second quarter. As firms and households are suffering permanent hits to their income, that slump will only be partially reversed in the second half of the year once the …
8th April 2020
Overview – Lockdowns will soon be imposed across much of Japan, triggering a decline of more than 10% in economic activity this quarter. The government’s latest fiscal package is intended to help firms stay afloat and to maintain employment while …
Overview – As a result of the coronavirus and the containment measures put in place to constrain its spread, we now anticipate an unprecedented 40% annualised decline in second-quarter GDP, with the unemployment rate spiking to 12.5% within a few months. …
6th April 2020
Although fiscal and monetary support has helped a bit, we doubt that “risky” assets will sustainably outperform “safe” ones again until the global spread of the coronavirus slows, which would raise the prospect of lockdowns ending and economic activity …
3rd April 2020
We have compressed this edition of the Outlook to focus it on the most timely indicators. Overview – Strict containment measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak in India will have severe economic repercussions. We think the economy will grow by …
2nd April 2020
Overview – The spread of the coronavirus across the USA and the various containment measures will bring many businesses to a standstill. This will be reflected in rising vacancy across all four major real estate sectors. Rents will come under downward …
27th March 2020
Overview – Given the uncertainty surrounding the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, the hit to real estate markets is still uncertain. The drop in economic output expected in the first half of this year, along with deteriorating investor sentiment will …
Overview – The fast-moving pace of developments means that the impact of COVID-19 on Emerging European real estate is highly uncertain. We expect the sharp decline in economic activity and deterioration in sentiment to weigh on rental values and cause …
Overview – The ever-changing economic effects of COVID-19 mean that the impact on real estate markets is highly uncertain. It is clear that the sharp contraction in economic activity and deterioration in sentiment over the first half of the year will …
20th March 2020
While the spread of, and policymakers’ response to, the coronavirus may continue to exert a big influence on asset returns over the next year or two, we don’t assume that it will affect their performance during the rest of this decade. Macroeconomic …
4th March 2020
Overview – A subdued economic outlook and continued contraction in retail are expected to weigh on all-property rents and returns this year. In the near-term, rising property yields will be the result of the ongoing correction in the retail sector this …
20th February 2020
We think the financial markets will be caught out this year by a decent acceleration in the quarterly rate of GDP growth preventing interest rates from being cut below 0.75%. And if we are right to assume that the UK and the EU will reach a fudge or …
12th February 2020
Overview – Fears about the coronavirus outbreak have weighed on oil prices and clouded the near-term outlook for the Gulf countries. Lower oil prices and a possible deepening of oil production cuts will act as a headwind to growth in early 2020. But even …
5th February 2020
Overview – A sharp decline in China’s economic growth in Q1 as a result of the coronavirus outbreak now seems certain. This will be a significant negative for metals demand, as China is the world’s single largest consumer of most metals, accounting for …
Overview – Provided that the coronavirus is contained, a gradual pick-up in global economic growth at a time of constrained supply should set the scene for higher oil prices in 2020. In contrast, we expect the average prices of natural gas and coal to …
30th January 2020
Overview – Economic growth in Africa is likely to come in at just 3% this year, as the slump that began in 2015 drags on. The limit on regional growth will, again, come from South Africa where hopes for a meaningful rebound this year look too optimistic. …
Overview – We think the economy has turned a corner and that GDP growth will beat the consensus forecast by accelerating from 1.0% this year to 1.8% next year. Of course, the lingering uncertainty over the UK’s future relationship with the EU will hold …
28th January 2020
Overview – A gradual rebound in global economic growth and, in many cases, constrained supply mean that we are broadly positive on the outlook for most commodity prices in 2020-21. One exception is the price of gold, which we expect to fall on the back of …
27th January 2020
After a stellar 2019 for most risky assets, we think that they will generally make only small gains in 2020. Admittedly, our forecasts assume that the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on markets will eventually unwind, since we simply don’t know how it …
Table of Key Forecasts Global Overview – We think that global growth is at or near a trough, with leading indicators picking up around the world and some EMs already experiencing a revival. But the global recovery will be gradual and uneven. The US should …
Overview – While the decisive election result could lead to a modest increase in housing demand over the next couple of years, we doubt that this will translate into a substantive pick-up in transactions or house prices. Indeed, any improvement in …
23rd January 2020
Overview – Cooling property construction is likely to weigh on economic activity in the coming quarters. But with external demand starting to stabilise, the slowdown should be gradual, as long as the coronavirus outbreak is contained. External Demand – …
Overview – Regional GDP growth is likely to gather pace this year as loose monetary and fiscal policy bolsters recoveries in Russia and Turkey and helps to cushion the slowdown in Central Europe. Interest rates will probably end this year lower than …
Table of Key Forecasts Overview – After a bad 2019, aggregate emerging market growth is likely to strengthen this year, driven by improvements in large EMs including Brazil, Russia and India. But recoveries will generally be lacklustre. And growth in …
22nd January 2020
We think growth and inflation will be below consensus in Switzerland and the Nordics this year. Switzerland is most exposed to the prolonged manufacturing recession in Germany and inflation there is likely to be close to zero. Meanwhile, we think the …
Overview – Growth in most Latin American economies should strengthen in 2020, but we expect that these recoveries will be slow and fragile. Indeed, the region is likely to be the worst performing part of the emerging world again this year. Inflation will …
21st January 2020
Overview – We expect economic growth to remain sluggish this year as external demand picks up only slowly and domestic demand softens. Employment growth is slowing, which will cause household incomes and spending to weaken, and investment intentions have …
Overview – Most countries in Emerging Asia should stage a gradual recovery over the coming year helped by continued policy support. Several have announced expansionary budgets or fiscal stimulus packages, while most central banks are likely to cut …
16th January 2020
Overview – Australia’s house prices may rise by 8% this year but consumers are still reeling under high debt loads. With growth set to fall short of potential, we still expect unemployment to rise further which should weigh on wage growth and underlying …
We expect most of the 2020s to be characterised by slow growth and very low inflation as persistently weak productivity growth leaves the developed world looking distinctly Japanese. But technological developments should ultimately bear fruit and we …
10th January 2020
Overview – After a year to forget in 2019, a combination of policy loosening and more effective measures to deal with the malaise in the shadow banking sector will push economic growth in India back up to a healthier pace in 2020. And with core inflation …
9th January 2020
Overview – The sales tax hike has not been as damaging as many had feared. But we remain more pessimistic about the outlook for global growth and domestic investment than most. That explains why we expect GDP to contract by 0.2% this year rather than …
8th January 2020
Overview – Mortgage interest rates have been close to 4% since October, and we expect they will stay at that level over the next couple of years. However, the support that will give to housing demand will be offset to some extent by tighter mortgage …
20th December 2019
Overview – The worst for GDP growth is not quite behind us but the economy’s prospects look better than they did a few months ago. Measures to boost existing oil pipeline capacity will help to offset still weak external demand in 2020, while consumption …
17th December 2019
Overview – Although trade tensions and the presidential election remain key downside risks, we expect looser financial conditions to drive an acceleration in GDP growth from the second half of next year onwards. We forecast that GDP growth will be 1.9% in …
16th December 2019
We think that returns from “risky” assets – equities, corporate bonds, REITs and industrial commodities – will generally beat those from “safe” ones – government bonds and precious metals – again over the next two years, as the global economy finds its …
13th December 2019
Overview – A weaker outlook for bond yields in Scandinavia and Switzerland means that falls in office and industrial yields are likely to extend into 2021. However, with rental prospects weak and yields rising, retail property is expected to underperform. …
Overview – We expect a further slowdown in euro-zone economic growth in 2020 to weigh on rental growth. However, with interest rates set to be cut next year and remain at this low level, there isn’t likely to be much upward pressure on bond yields over …
5th December 2019
Overview – Regardless of the outcome of the election and Brexit, we expect all-property returns to be weak over coming years. Indeed, even if a deal is secured and economic growth picks up, we expect weakness in the retail sector to weigh on all-property …
13th November 2019
As the markets have not fully priced in the Conservatives winning the general election on 12 th December and securing a Brexit deal, if that were to happen we suspect the pound would climb from $1.28 now to $1.35, 10-year gilt yields could rise from 0.76% …
Overview – We have revised up our end-2020 forecast for the prices of gold and silver to reflect the fact that we now expect roughly as much monetary easing by the Fed as the market. Meanwhile, we have trimmed our price forecasts for most base metals but …
1st November 2019
We have revised up our end-2019 forecasts for equities, which previously pointed to a large correction. But even without this big pothole, we continue to think that the road ahead for them will be bumpy. Admittedly, we had underestimated the extent to …
31st October 2019
Overview – The region is set to record its second-lowest growth rate this decade in 2019 and, while a recovery is likely to take hold in 2020, it will be slow going. The drag on the Gulf economies from this year’s oil production cuts will fade, but this …
24th October 2019
Overview – Regardless of what happens with Brexit in the months ahead, a revival in the owner occupier housing market is unlikely. Even if a Brexit deal is agreed soon, we expect to see only a small improvement in housing market transactions and house …
Overview – Oil prices are likely to remain subdued in the near term as the global economy continues to slow and risk aversion prevails. And while natural gas and coal prices could rise in the coming months as part of the usual season upturn in demand, the …
23rd October 2019
Overview – Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa will probably pick up in 2020, but we think that it will be much slower than most expect. The key reason for our downbeat view is South Africa, where we think that weak investment spending, tight policy, and …
Overview – While there appears to be little to lift spirits in the near term, we think the macro-economic backdrop for commodity markets will turn more positive during 2020. We expect global economic growth to pick up over the course of the year, which in …
18th October 2019
Table of Key Forecasts Global Overview – Growth has not yet reached a bottom and we expect weakness in advanced economies to drive a further slowdown around the turn of the year. Widespread monetary policy loosening is already underway and we think that …
17th October 2019
