Filtered by Region: Europe Use setting Europe
We don’t expect the recent surge in Japan’s stock market to last, and think it will make much smaller gains over the next couple of years . The remarkable rally in Japan’s stock market over the past couple of weeks, following the resignation of the …
17th September 2021
Despite the fall in oil prices that we expect over the coming years, we forecast the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) EMEA Index to make further gains and continue to outperform the broader MSCI EM Index. The recent strong performance of equities in EMEA adds …
Energy prices adding to inflationary pressures The recent surge in European gas and coal prices will push headline inflation further above central bank’s targets in most countries in the coming months. European coal and natural gas prices have surged over …
One feature of the COVID-19 era has been persistent non-payment of rents, particularly in the retail and leisure sectors. But we don’t think this will come to a head next year once the eviction ban lifts, as by then the economy should be in better shape …
On the back of the surge in inflation from 2.0% in July to 3.2% in August and the blistering increases in wholesale gas and electricity prices, investors are now pencilling in a rise in Bank Rate from 0.10% to 0.25% in Q1 2022 and to 0.50% at the start of …
Rising inflation eating into spending power Data published this week highlight the twin drags of weak pay growth and rising inflation to households’ real incomes. We expect inflation to fall sharply next year, but the risks to our forecast are to the …
Given the recent surge in wholesale gas and electricity prices to record highs, it looks likely that Ofgem will opt for another chunky hike to the price cap on households’ utility bills next April. While this will hit household real incomes, it doesn’t …
Upside risks to inflation are building Rising costs – from shipping to energy – are likely to push euro-zone inflation up even further in the coming months. They might also mean that it doesn’t fall quite as quickly next year as we currently assume. But …
Retailers struggle as households spend elsewhere The fourth consecutive fall in retail sales in August isn’t as bad as it looks as some of it reflects households spending more on non-retail items as life returns closer to normal. But as non-retail …
MPC’s position that interest rate hikes are on the horizon won’t have changed But the weak near-term growth outlook means that a rate rise is unlikely soon We think that Bank Rate will remain unchanged at 0.10% until 2023 The Monetary Policy Committee …
16th September 2021
Overview – While the Delta variant has slowed economic activity in other parts of the world, this has not yet been the case in the euro-zone, and we are cautiously optimistic that the bloc will continue to grow. This will support the property market …
The end of the stamp duty holiday may do little to dampen demand and homes for sale are in short supply. The upshot is that house price growth will remain strong into next year, so we have revised up our forecast for house price growth in 2022 from 3% to …
The most recent commercial property data have been surprisingly upbeat and have raised the possibility that the recovery could be stronger than expected. But we think investors may have run ahead of themselves and this trend is unlikely to be sustained …
A deeper dive into the CPI figures supports our initial analysis that the bulk of the jump in inflation from 2.0% in July to 3.2% in August is due to base effects linked to falling consumer prices in August last year rather than a widespread and …
15th September 2021
A victory for United Russia in the Duma elections this week will strengthen the government’s recent focus on state intervention in the economy. Social redistribution has become a key priority for the government and large businesses may end up paying for …
Wage pressures not quite as weak as Q2 data suggest The sharp fall in euro-zone average hourly labour costs in Q2 compared to a year earlier was mainly due to pandemic-related distortions to the data that will continue to muddy the picture for another …
Climb in inflation towards 4.5% to be an uncomfortable ride for the MPC The leap in CPI inflation from 2.0% in July to a nine-year high of 3.2% in August (consensus 2.9%, CE 3.1%) is the first step in a rise that may take inflation to 4.5% or above by …
Signs that re-opening inflation is fading The rise in Israeli inflation to an 8-year high of 2.2% y/y in August was partly driven by a chunky rise in housing costs, but there are signs that “re-opening inflation” in services has run its course. We think …
14th September 2021
The momentum in the Swedish economy, and jump in inflation in August, gives the Riksbank plenty to ponder at next week’s policy meeting. While repo rate hikes are not on policymakers’ agenda, the reduced risk of disinflationary pressures lends support to …
Surge in home moving pushes lending up to post-financial crisis high The further surge in mortgage lending to a fresh post-financial-crisis high and booming house prices begs the question whether there is over-exuberance in the housing market. But as the …
Stronger inflation to change the conversation at the Riksbank The stronger-than-expected pick-up in Swedish headline inflation in August ups the ante for the Riksbank ahead of next week’s policy meeting. While repo rate hikes are low down on policymakers’ …
Labour market still tightening despite unwinding of the furlough scheme The latest data brought more signs that labour market slack is declining fast and that labour shortages are contributing to faster underlying pay growth. We suspect that beyond the …
This Update compares the valuations of the twelve different “risky” asset classes that we cover on our Asset Allocation service, both relative to one another and to the yields of “safe” assets, as well as explaining how those valuations inform our …
13th September 2021
The recent surge in the prices of natural gas and coal, and therefore electricity too, has boosted energy inflation and suggests the risks to our near-term forecast for headline inflation lie to the upside. But the effects of this will start to fade next …
Our financial conditions indices show that conditions remain loose by historic standards in most EMs. The key exception is Latin America, where conditions have tightened sharply this year due to rising interest rates and fiscal risks. This could pose a …
Weak start for Turkey’s economy in Q3 Turkey’s industrial production and retail sales figures for July suggest that, after putting in a better-than-expected performance in Q2, the economy made a soft start to Q3. Industrial production contracted by 4.2% …
After weakening over the preceding two weeks, the US dollar has rebounded against most other currencies this week. Nonetheless, last week’s disappointing payrolls report and the slightly less upbeat tone in recent comments from FOMC members appear to have …
10th September 2021
Commodity markets have been relatively quiet over the last few weeks , with many prices trading in a narrow range. There are a few exceptions, most notably the prices of natural gas and coal , which have soared on the back of surging power demand and …
Rule of law dispute escalates in Poland The Poland-EU dispute over the rule of law reached a breaking point this week and raises the threat of potential fines and a significant delay to receiving EU recovery funds in the coming months. This week brought …
The stalling in the economic recovery in July doesn’t mean the recovery is over. But the 0.1% m/m rise in GDP in July revealed on Friday (see here ) does illustrate that the recovery has entered a slower and more challenging phase. To some extent this was …
Russia’s central bank (CBR) slowed down its monetary tightening cycle with a 25bp interest rate hike, to 6.75% at today’s meeting and the accompanying communications suggest that there may be just one more 25bp rate hike, to 7.00%, in this cycle. The …
Global supply problems could put some further upward pressure on inflation in the near term, but the increase in inflation experienced in the immediate wake of the COVID crisis is close to peaking and we expect headline inflation to fall back in every …
Norway is a riddle, in a mystery, inside an enigma Norwegians will go the polls in parliamentary elections on Monday in what has been dubbed the “climate election”. The run-up to the vote has been dominated by a debate over the appropriate speed at which …
Coal and natural gas prices have soared around the world on the back of unseasonable weather and disruptions to supply. And even if the weather normalises and supply rebounds soon, we expect prices to remain high at least into the start of 2022 as stocks …
Weak core inflation will not prevent tightening cycle start The fact that the Norges Bank’s target measure of inflation fell for the fifth month in a row in August, and is likely to remain steady at about half the Bank’s target rate over the next six …
Virus cases and shortages stall the recovery The rise in COVID-19 cases and the product/labour shortages are probably behind the stalling in the UK’s economic recovery in July. With next week’s CPI release set to reveal a jump in inflation from 2.0% to …
The broadening of the recent product and labour shortages appears to be holding back activity and adding to the upward pressure on inflation. The risk is twofold. First, these shortages may prevent GDP from returning to its pre-pandemic peak until next …
9th September 2021
The pandemic is likely to inflict lasting damage on potential growth in economies in much of Latin America, Africa and South and Southeast Asia, adding to the structural headwinds that they already faced. However, the risk of permanent scarring in many …
The ECB today confirmed that it will slow its asset purchases slightly but this is a long way from a “full taper”. We think inflation will drop even further than the ECB expects over the medium term and expect the Bank to continue with asset purchases of …
The combination of large foreign-currency debt burdens, low FX reserves and weakening currencies means that the risk of sovereign defaults in Sri Lanka and Tunisia is growing. Elsewhere, China’s largest property developer, Evergrande, appears to be close …
Inflation hits fresh five-year high, tightening cycle not over Russian inflation rose to a fresh five-year high of 6.7% y/y in August and, while there are some tentative signs that price pressures have started to soften recently, we think the central …
8th September 2021
We estimate that households in Poland, Czechia and Hungary have accumulated “excess” savings worth 4% of GDP so far during the pandemic and this stockpile looks set to grow further in the coming quarters. We don’t expect these excess savings to be spent, …
The fact that the Swedish GDP indicator was nearly 2% above its pre-virus level in July puts a question mark over the wisdom of the Riksbank’s plan to exhaust its asset purchase envelope by end-2021. We think there is a rising chance that policymakers …
With more hybrid working post-pandemic, the view is that office rents will be under pressure for many years. This raises questions about which locations could be more resilient and if rents in central business districts (CBDs) will perform better than …
The shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers in the euro-zone appears to be nowhere near as acute as in the UK. We therefore don’t expect to see a surge in drivers’ wages that would lead to widespread upward pressure on pay throughout the euro-zone …
7th September 2021
The interactions between Brexit, the deterioration in Scotland’s fiscal situation and the continued lack of an easy option for the currency have made the economics of Scottish independence even more challenging than at the time of the first referendum in …
The net effect of today’s announcements on social care reform may provide a very small boost to GDP. But perhaps more important is that by funding more spending on social care by raising taxes, the government has some room to increase spending further, …
Economy and labour market recovering strongly With revised data showing that the euro-zone economy performed even better than previously thought in Q2, the ECB is sure to revise up its GDP forecasts on Thursday. That said, even if it reduces the pace of …
Auto sector still stuck in low gear The small increase in German industrial production in July merely reversed the fall in June, and left output well below normal. While the rest of the economy is now close to a full recovery, supply chain problems among …
Headline inflation came in higher than our above-consensus forecast in August and, at 3.0%, reached its highest level for a decade. It is likely to rise a bit further in the coming months: producer price inflation has risen recently and the price …
6th September 2021
