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While front-month European natural gas prices have fallen sharply as concerns have eased around shortages this winter, longer-dated futures haven’t fallen by as much. That reflects how difficult it will be to fill storage without Russian gas flows next …
4th November 2022
ECB Governing Council members had a busy week, with just under half of them giving speeches or interviews on the outlook for monetary policy. There are four key takeaways from their comments. First, rates will rise further. All policymakers who spoke …
Falling inflation may keep SNB in check The reductions in headline and core inflation in Switzerland in October confirm that inflation has now passed its peak, and both measures look set to continue on a downward path next year. (See here . ) We don’t …
Improvement in headline index will not last long As was the case last month, an improvement in delivery times and subcontractor availability drove a surprise rise on the headline construction PMI in October. But a slowing economy and higher financing …
Recession looms while inflation stays exceptionally high The final euro-zone PMIs for October paint a clear picture of falling activity and sky-high inflation. We expect the ECB to prioritise the fight against inflation and press on with raising the …
The differing tones of the Fed, ECB and BoE at their recent meetings have seen yields rise in the US more than elsewhere and reignited the rally in the US dollar. That pattern could last a few more months. But we expect falling inflation in the US to mean …
3rd November 2022
Composite PMIs for Italy and Spain probably fell further in October (09.00 GMT) We think US non-farm payrolls rose by 225,000 in October (12.30 GMT) Sign-up to our Global Economics Drop-In on the upcoming recession Key Market Themes We’re inclined to …
The recent easing of global supply chain problems could put some downward pressure on euro-zone goods inflation soon. But equipment shortages are still a major problem for manufacturers, while their price expectations are high. And with the labour …
Construction activity set to slow as financing constraints bite The latest RICS Construction Survey showed a rise in workloads in Q3, although the gain was small. Looking ahead, a slowing economy and higher financing costs will soon lead to a cut in …
Labour market still strong but likely to soften from here The fall in the euro-zone unemployment rate to 6.6% in September shows that the labour market remained very tight even as the economy headed towards recession. We expect unemployment to rise in …
Today’s decision by the Norges Bank to slow the pace of rate hikes is the beginning of the end for its tightening cycle. But we don’t expect a pivot towards interest rate cuts next year. The Bank signalled at its last meeting that after raising its policy …
German prime office rental growth is expected to slow sharply next year as the economy experiences the deepest recession in the euro-zone. Even so, we don’t expect rental growth to underperform as the low level of vacancy means the German markets are in a …
2nd November 2022
Although the resignation of Liz Truss as Prime Minister leaves the UK without a leader when it faces huge economic, fiscal and financial market challenges, the markets appear to be relieved. The pound has climbed from $1.12 to $1.13 and 30-year gilt …
This dashboard gives a holistic overview of financial conditions across major developed economies. It presents our proprietary financial conditions indices (FCIs) as well as a selection of input variables used in our FCIs. Our FCIs indicate the ease with …
Russia’s decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative will exacerbate sky-high prices and tight global supply, and adds to the likelihood that prices hover around historical highs for the next few months. To recap, the Kremlin announced at the …
1st November 2022
House prices now falling as higher mortgage rates bite The jump in mortgage interest rates is now being felt in house prices, with Nationwide reporting the first month-on-month fall since July 2021. House prices are now set to stay on a sustained downward …
Economists from our UK Economics team held a briefing ahead of the MPC’s November meeting to discuss why we think that rates will rise further than most analysts are expecting and the conditions that would be needed for the Bank to shift to a slower pace …
31st October 2022
Approvals begin to fall as rising rates take effect Mortgage approvals fell in September as buyers began to adjust to rising interest rates. With further rate rises likely in the coming months, we expect this downward trend to continue and for lending to …
Households take caution as real spending power falls The increase in precautionary household saving in September and weakening demand for credit poses an extra downside risk to our forecast that the economy will contract by 2% during a recession. These …
Double-digit inflation will keep ECB hawkish The increase in euro-zone GDP in Q3 does not alter our view that the euro-zone is on the cusp of a recession. But with inflation having jumped to well over 10%, the ECB will prioritise price stability and press …
Investor caution to weigh on net lending Net lending to commercial property was positive in September but, looking through the monthly volatility, there is a clear downward trend in lending. With the economy entering a recession and property yields now …
Overview – The jump in market interest rates following the ill-advised “mini” budget has forced quoted mortgage rates up to over 5%, a level not seen since 2009. That will turn the slowdown in demand already evident in the survey data into a collapse, as …
The reports that the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will unveil in his Autumn Statement on 17 th November a fiscal tightening of up to £50bn by 2026/27 (1.7% of GDP) suggest that after a period in which fiscal policy has provided the economy with support, it is …
28th October 2022
In general we think the data released this week are consistent with our three key calls on the euro-zone. The first is that the region is heading for a deeper recession than most anticipate. Our forecast is for a 1.8% decline in GDP in 2023 is below both …
Strong inflation prints will keep ECB in tightening mode Renewed inflation shockers in Germany, France and Italy in October pour cold water on expectations that the ECB’s softer tone on rate hikes yesterday will pave the way for a “pivot”. We continue to …
We published our Q4 Nordic & Swiss Economic Outlook this week. The key points are that we expect Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark to suffer recessions, while Norway might escape with only a sharp slowdown. But inflation will remain high in the Nordics and …
Economy contracting, price pressures intense The further fall in the European Commission’s economic sentiment indicator in October adds to the evidence that the euro-zone economy is contracting. But the labour market still looks tight and firms’ price …
An acceleration of the slowdown in European commercial property investment in Q3 is evidence that economic growth concerns, higher interest rates and tightening credit standards are weighing heavily on activity. We expect investment to decline into 2023 …
Recession postponed The unexpected resilience of Germany’s economy in Q3, with GDP rising 0.3% q/q, has probably only postponed the recession which we now expect to begin in the fourth quarter. Business surveys show that activity has already begun to …
Slowing before entering recession The modest economic growth recorded by both France and Spain in Q3 was broadly in line with expectations and represents a significant slowdown from the second quarter. We expect both economies to go into recession in the …
We expect the Bank of Japan to leave policy unchanged Russia’s central bank may cut its policy rate by another 50bp… (11.30 BST) …while we expect a 100bp rate hike in Colombia (19.00 BST) Key Market Themes Despite some dovish elements in today’s ECB …
27th October 2022
The Norges Bank signalled in September that it intended to slow the pace of tightening, implying that it would hike by 25bp at the meeting next week. But with inflation data since then again coming in higher than expected, we think the Bank will opt for …
After raising rates by 75bp today, the ECB laid the groundwork for a slower pace of tightening to come. But we still think that the deposit rate will reach 3% next year. And while the Bank will set out some “key principles” for QT in December, we doubt …
ECB’s work is far from done The ECB is very likely to follow today’s 75bp rate hike with further aggressive increases in the coming months, even if we are right that the forthcoming recession will be deeper than most expect. The decision to maintain the …
Occupier demand falls as economy slows The slowing economy and cost-of-living crisis are now having a clear impact on occupier demand, with surveyors reporting the first drop since the start of 2021. That has fed through to rent and capital value …
Helsinki office vacancy jumped in Q3 and is likely to trend higher over the next couple of years as occupier demand weakens, completions rise and there are fewer office-to-residential conversions. As such, rental growth will slow, with prospects a bit …
There is growing evidence that weakening demand in major economies is taking a toll on world trade. While trade volumes rose in August, early reporting Asian economies revealed a decline in imports in September, exports orders have fallen sharply across …
26th October 2022
Industrial demand is relatively well-placed to weather the upcoming recession. Vacancy is low going into the downturn and the gradual shift to online shopping will continue. It should therefore be the only sector to avoid a fall in rents. However, …
A closer look at core inflation across EMs suggests that underlying price pressures have started to ease. But they remain very strong by historic standards in most countries – and particularly so in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The CEE economies …
As the recent breakdown of the UK Gilt market illustrates, policymakers face an increasingly difficult trade-off between combating inflation, supporting economic growth and maintaining financial stability. With core bond and currency markets facing very …
Money and lending growth accelerated in September, but the latest Bank Lending Survey revealed that there was a sharp drop in loan demand and that banks have become much more cautious about lending. With the cost of borrowing likely to keep rising, …
We expect European natural gas prices to be high in 2023 as the EU will need to replace Russian gas supply for the entire year. This means demand for LNG imports will be strong, even if gas consumption falls. We forecast that the natural gas price (TTF) …
25th October 2022
Prospects for economic activity have deteriorated further in recent months as headwinds to growth have become stronger. Inflation looks set to remain high for longer, eroding households’ real incomes; monetary policy is being tightened further and …
Despite stabilising a bit recently, the valuation of UK mid- and large-cap equities in general has fallen recently in both absolute terms and relative to comparable indices elsewhere. While that doesn’t imply that they are bound to outperform in the …
Table of Key Forecasts Global Overview – Persistently high inflation and more aggressive monetary policy tightening now seem set to cause a global recession. While we had previously anticipated contractions in several economies, the gloom has spread …
Yet more evidence of recession The Ifo Business Climate Index held up better than expected in October but was still extremely low. With other business surveys also persistently weak, we think Germany will experience the deepest recession among euro-zone …
German Ifo may point towards a deep recession (09.00 BST) We expect Hungary’s central bank to leave its main policy rate on hold (13.00 BST) Clients can sign up here for a Drop-In on the outlook for the euro-zone (15.00 BST) Key Market Themes Given all …
24th October 2022
Although the energy crisis in Europe has dealt a blow to the EU’s near-term green ambitions, a combination of economic incentives, NextGenEU funding, and geopolitical expediency will cause the bloc to re-double its decarbonisation efforts. However, …
