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Europe Commercial Property Valuation Monitor (Q4 2024) …
25th November 2024
News of who’s in – and who’s out – of Donald Trump’s government, and what that means for the US and the rest of the world, continues to swirl. While Trump’s choice of Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary is reassuringly orthodox, there is still …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. German economy still in the doldrums The fall in the Ifo Business Climate Index (BCI) in November left it even deeper into recessionary territory and is consistent with our view …
Discussion on the latest episode of The Weekly Briefing from Capital Economics attempts to avoid any mention of Donald Trump – and fails almost immediately. But Group Chief Economist Neil Shearing’s point is that there is a lot going on in the world …
22nd November 2024
November’s weaker-than-expected Flash PMIs for the euro-zone prompted investors to lower their policy rate expectations. Even so, we still expect more easing than implied in money markets, so we think Bund yields will fall a bit further. The euro-zone …
Overview – The fiscal loosening announced in October’s Budget means inflation and gilt yields are now set to be higher than previously expected over the next few years. And with the spread of gilt yields over property yields currently narrow, that implies …
While it was widely expected that CPI inflation would rise above the 2.0% target in October, the rebound from 1.7% to 2.3% was stronger than most forecasters had anticipated. And our view is that CPI inflation will rise further, to nearly 3.0% in January …
Russia’s war in Ukraine escalates Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated this week, with the US shifting its strategy to give Ukraine the go-ahead to use Western-provided long-range weapons on Russian territory and Russia launching an …
Earlier this week, our markets team revised our bond yield forecasts, raising our 10-year US Treasury yield forecast on the back of Trump’s election, but generally lowering our forecasts for euro-zone yields. (See here .) We now forecast the 10-year …
Our base case is that protectionist policies from the US next year will have only a small economic impact on Europe, but the fallout will vary between countries and there are risks of greater damage if the trade conflict escalates. Meanwhile, the EU will …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Budget and Trump may have triggered slowdown in activity At face value, the fall in the composite PMI from 51.8 in October to 49.9 in November suggests that real GDP growth is …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Slow start to the golden quarter, but the outlook is improving The bigger-than-expected 0.7% m/m fall in retail sales in October (consensus forecast -0.3% m/m) suggests that …
Spain’s economy is outperforming the euro-zone as a whole, and the difference is also evident in the labour market, which is still tightening at a decent pace. There now appears to be little slack left in Spain’s labour market and so we think an imbalance …
21st November 2024
Romania will elect a new government over the coming weeks at a time when the economy is performing poorly, inflation is running above target, and macroeconomic stability depends on policymakers pushing through much-needed fiscal consolidation. The most …
Interest rate cuts still a few months away (at least) The communications accompanying the decision by the Turkish central bank (CBRT) to leave its policy rate unchanged again today, at 50.00%, suggest that analysts’ expectations for an easing cycle to …
Europe Commercial Property Chart Pack (Q4 2024) …
We have updated this page with additional analysis since first publication. Disappointing borrowing figures highlight Chancellor’s lack of wiggle room October’s disappointing public finances figures underline the fiscal challenge that the Chancellor still …
The experience of the first Trump administration suggests that other countries will retaliate to the imposition of new US tariffs but in a way that is measured and minimises the risk of escalating tensions with Washington. The imposition of …
20th November 2024
Our new forecast that Bank Rate will fall slower and not as far means that we now think mortgage rates will decline from 4.4% in October to 3.9% by the end of 2026, rather than to 3.5%. But we still think that mortgage rates will fall by more than most …
We held a series of client meetings in the US last week which focused on the implications of Trump’s victory in the US election and the spillovers to EMs. This Update answers some of the most frequent and important questions that came up. What impact will …
The jump in euro-zone negotiated wage growth in Q3, to a record high of 5.4%, was mostly due to one-off payments in Germany. Wage growth elsewhere was little changed. With headline inflation around 2% and the labour market loosening, wage growth is very …
The recovery in euro-zone real estate investment has been weak in 2024, with total activity in the first three quarters little changed on 2023’s near-record-lows. However, prospects for 2025 are brighter. We think investment will rise 25% y/y as interest …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Surprisingly big rebound suggests BoE will leave rates at 4.75% in December October’s surprisingly large rebound in CPI inflation from 1.7% to 2.3% (CE 2.1%, consensus & BoE …
Artificial intelligence (AI) is still not being used very widely outside of the ICT sector. But we remain confident that, in time, it has the potential to be used across all sectors and industries. Surveys of firms in the US and EU show that AI usage is …
19th November 2024
Services inflation in the euro-zone has been stuck around 4% for the past 12 months, but there are good reasons to expect it to decline significantly next year. We think that core inflation will continue to edge down in 2025 and the headline rate will …
Recession not enough for MNB to resume easing The Hungarian central bank (MNB) left its base rate on hold again today, at 6.50%, despite the economy having just fallen back into recession. We think that the easing cycle will remain on pause over the next …
The larger and faster pace of ECB rate cuts we now expect means euro-zone government bond yields are likely to be lower in the coming years than previously forecast. This is positive for property valuations and means property yields could fall by more in …
We think that the euro will fall to parity against the US dollar next year but will strengthen against some other currencies, such as the renminbi, and on a trade-weighted basis we forecast it to be little changed. So the effect of FX moves on growth and …
18th November 2024
European natural gas prices have trended higher this year and are likely to fluctuate around €40-45 per MWh until conditions in the global LNG market loosen. That said, prices will drop back meaningfully once the wave of LNG supply arrives, with a good …
15th November 2024
Yet another week of disappointing activity data … The Q3 GDP data released out of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) this week has only added to concerns about the health of the region’s economies. Poland’s economy contracted by 0.2% q/q , while GDP …
Today’s GDP release, which confirmed that the economy has barely grown at all since March, is clearly a blow for the government given its pledge to secure the “highest sustained growth in the G7”. This means that while the UK has now surpassed Japan and …
Déjà vu for industrial metals While it is uncertain exactly how Trump will approach tariffs during a second term, China will clearly be in the firing line and commodities could be caught in the crossfire. For context, Chart 1 shows the US’s bilateral …
The focus this week has continued to be on the consequences of the US election results for Europe. So while a lot remains unclear at this stage, it is worth reiterating what we think are the main implications. First, it seems likely that the US will …
We think that the impact of Trump’s proposed 10% universal tariff on euro-zone GDP would be very small, in part because we expect the effect to be offset by a weaker euro. So we aren’t pushing down our already below-consensus GDP growth forecasts any …
Swiss economy slows sharply, but will pick up in the coming quarters Economic growth was surprisingly slow in the third quarter as sporting event-adjusted GDP increased by just 0.2% q/q, a sharp slowdown from the 0.5% recorded in Q2. This will further …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Q3 GDP growth muted, Q4 will be better The 0.1% m/m contraction in GDP in September meant that the economy still grew by 0.1% q/q in Q3 (consensus and CE forecasts 0.2% q/q), but …
It is increasingly clear to us that pricing in all three regions we forecast has bottomed, even if appraisals are yet to reflect that in mainland Europe and the US. And although we expect recent events – the election of Donald Trump and the recent UK …
14th November 2024
President-elect Trump’s distaste for trade deficits surely does not extend to worrying about the US’s large-scale import of carbon emissions through trade flows. The global imbalance between importers and exporters of CO 2 emissions is likely to shrink …
The UK is not as exposed to US import tariffs as many other economies and we suspect any resulting reduction in UK GDP would be very small. That said, the car and pharmaceutical sectors are the most vulnerable areas of the UK economy. And we don’t think …
We wouldn’t read much into the recent contraction in swap spreads in Germany. Despite turning negative, the 10-year euro-zone OIS/Bund spread is not far below its level before the pandemic. And it remains well above 10-year US OIS/Treasury and 10-year …
Donald Trump’s re-election has changed perceptions of how the war in Ukraine will develop, with many hoping for a quicker end to the conflict. This Update looks at how the war might evolve and the economic implications for Russia and Ukraine, for Europe …
Our forecast that Bank Rate will fall slower means that we now think mortgage rates will decline from 4.4% now to 3.9% by the end of 2026, rather than to 3.5%. But we still think that mortgage rates will fall by more than most expect and that house price …
The strength of prime office rent growth in Europe in recent years has surprised forecasters, however there is broad agreement that rental growth will slow next year. We share that view, but are less pessimistic than most about the extent of the slowdown. …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Faster GDP growth looks temporary The pick-up in euro-zone GDP growth to 0.4% q/q in Q3 is unlikely to be sustained. Timelier business and consumer surveys suggest that growth …
Poland’s economy stumbles in Q3 The 0.2% q/q contraction in Polish GDP in Q3 partly reflects the impact of flooding in September, the impact of which will reverse this quarter. Even so, we have become a bit more concerned about underlying weakness in the …
Improvement in housing market sentiment may be overdone October’s RICS survey points to robust house price growth but the Budget means that mortgages rates will probably fall a bit slower than we previously thought, which will restrain house prices next …
Growth slowing, but inflation pressures still strong The slowdown in Russian GDP growth in Q3, to 3.1% y/y, is likely to be followed by a further loss of momentum in growth over the coming quarters. But, alongside CPI data which show that inflationary …
13th November 2024
If Donald Trump follows through on his threat to impose a high sector-specific tariff on European cars, German firms could suffer a big reduction in exports, deepening the crisis in the sector and adding another headwind to economic growth. That would be …