It’s been a drama-filled week in Trumpland and Group Chief Economist Neil Shearing is on The Weekly Briefing from Capital Economics to take stock of what happened, what didn’t happen, and the implications for macro and markets. As well as discussing the …
7th February 2025
January’s strong US employment report supports our view that the Fed will stay on the sidelines during the rest of 2025, as well as our forecast that the 10-year Treasury yield will end the year higher. The employment report pointed to the labour market …
Do not write off tariffs President Donald Trump’s U-turn on 25% tariffs for Canada and Mexico this week, seemingly in exchange for a few trivial concessions from both countries, has reignited speculation he is using the threat of trade barriers as a bluff …
The announcement and subsequent postponement of tariffs on Canada by President Donald Trump has sprung politicians into action. On Wednesday, Liberal Party leader hopefuls Mark Carney and Chrystia Freeland set out their economic policies. Today, Prime …
The dollar’s boost from tariff announcements last weekend proved short-lived and, despite rallying a bit in response to the latest Employment Report , the greenback is set to end the week lower against most currencies. It’s clearer than ever that …
President Ramaphosa used his State of the Nation Address (SONA) yesterday to recommit to fiscal discipline and investment-led growth. The rebuke of the US in his speech was noticeable, suggesting Trump’s recent actions could act to push South Africa …
The overall message from the Bank of England this week was decidedly dovish, raising the risk that interest rates will be cut further and faster than our forecast of a fall from 4.50% to 3.50% by early 2026. But as we unpacked in our reaction to the …
Inflation expectations surge due to tariffs The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey for February showed a decline in the headline index alongside a sharp rise in inflation expectations, suggesting that consumers are increasingly concerned …
Hawks fly in CEE, but further rate divergence likely The communications from policymakers following central bank meetings in Poland and Czechia this week struck a hawkish tone. After leaving rates on hold , Poland’s central bank Governor Glapinski focused …
Mexico dodges tariffs… for now The world was convulsed at the start of the week by President’s Trump’s tariff threats on Canada and Mexico, which were postponed for 30 days through last minute deals whereby both countries pledged to beef up border …
Due to an error in the figures mentioned in the original, we are re-sending this Canada Economics rapid response. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. Strong across the board A further strong rise in employment and tick down in the unemployment rate …
The softer 143,000 gain in payrolls in January is nothing to be concerned about following the upward revisions to payrolls in November and December, which left the three-month average gain at a near-two year high of 237,000. That strength, together with a …
Note: Join us as we discuss how Donald Trump's moves to build out his policy agenda will affect energy, soft commodities, and metals markets in a Drop-in on Thursday 13th February 15:00 GMT/10:00 EST . Register here for the 20-minute online briefing. …
Join our Commodities team for this briefing all about how commodities markets are being affected by Donald Trump’s moves to build out his trade policy agenda. During this 20-minute session, the team will be answering your questions as they address key …
While there is currently a lot of focus on r* at the ECB (which we wrote about earlier today ), the outlook for wage growth may prove to be more important in guiding monetary policy. And the ECB’s wage tracker, released on Wednesday, suggests that wage …
Comparing the ECB’s deposit rate to estimates of its equilibrium level suggests that monetary policy will soon be only slightly restrictive. But there is a huge amount of uncertainty around these estimates. With the economy struggling and underlying price …
Join economists from our Europe and Markets teams for this special briefing a day after the federal election to discuss the outcome of voting and its implications for Germany’s – and the euro-zone’s – economic future, as well as for bund yields, German …
Consumption rebound looking shaky Growth in retail sales and wider consumer spending accelerated last quarter, buoyed by the consumer goods trade-in scheme and broader fiscal support. But this recovery appears to have stalled at the start of 2025. Both …
Fiscal restraint, monetary easing It’s been a busy week on the domestic policymaking front. The FY25/26 Union Budget contained some tax breaks aimed at boosting household consumption, but fiscal prudence was still very much the order of the day: the …
Trade war begins: winners and losers in Asia Donald Trump’s 10% tariffs on China (along with those threatened for Mexico and Canada) could prove to be the start of a protracted trade war. (See here .) While there is a lot of uncertainty over what will …
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) decision to cut the repo rate by 25bps today to 6.25% confirms that, under new leadership, its priorities have tilted from containing inflation to providing more support for the economy. We think a further 75bps of cuts …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. German industry ends 2024 in poor health The sharp drop in German industrial production in December means output fell for a third successive quarter in Q4. Looking ahead, s …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Housing market continues to shrug off sluggish economy The 0.7% m/m rise in the Halifax house price index in January is at odds with the muted 0.1% m/m increase in the Nationwide …
New governor kicks off easing cycle The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) decision to cut the repo rate by 25bps today to 6.25% confirms that, under new leadership, its priorities have tilted from containing inflation to providing more support for the …
Pickup in consumption won't nix RBA rate cut Data released this week suggest that the Australian consumer felt rather upbeat last quarter. To start with, we learnt that retail sales held steady in December, a better result than most had anticipated. As a …
Wage growth strongest since 1997 According to the preliminary estimate released this week, labour cash earnings rose by 4.8% y/y in December, the largest increase since 1997. But while those strong gains boost household incomes, on their own they don’t …
Our latest Global Inflation Watch publication highlights a growing divergence between US and European inflation dynamics and the uncertainties facing the world economy from Donald Trump’s tariff plans. Join Chief Global Economist Jennifer McKeown and …
6th February 2025
Banxico steps up easing as it adopts a more dovish tone Mexico’s central bank stepped up the pace of monetary easing to 50bp at today’s meeting, lowering the policy rate to 9.50%, and the overall communications were dovish. While a tariff-induced drop in …
We expect the Bank of England to cut faster and further than investors expect, pushing Gilt yields down and in turn weighing on the pound. The Bank of England (BoE) cut its Bank Rate by 25bp to 4.5% today, as widely expected. Even so, the tone of the …
The UK stock market appears to be riding high – the FTSE 100 has hit a record high. But local-currency returns from UK equities have been flattered by a weaker pound. In common-currency terms, UK stocks have performed much less impressively, and we expect …
The threat of US tariffs will hang over the economy for the foreseeable future, weighing on confidence and reducing investment. We have therefore revised down our GDP growth forecast for 2025 to 1.5%, from 1.8%. We still expect the Bank of Canada to cut …
Even if mortgage rates drop back slightly and house price growth cools over the next few years as we expect, renting will remain the more cost-effective option, supporting apartment demand. Southeast and West Coast apartment markets stand to gain the …
Ecuador’s presidential election on Sunday is set to be a tight race, with a second round run-off in April likely to be needed to separate the two leading candidates. Among the next government’s multiple challenges are improving the security situation and …
A slowdown in the adoption of EVs – along with an increasing preference for hybrids – is likely to increase demand for platinum by a bit more than for palladium over the coming years. Accordingly, with the supply backdrop likely to remain constrained for …
A stabilisation in capital values and decline in interest rates have sparked optimism that we may be past the worst of the real estate debt refinancing challenge. That indeed looks to be the case in the UK. However, euro-zone banks are still pulling back …
Despite Donald Trump cutting deals with Mexico and Canada, we are not backtracking from our revised view that the Fed will stay on the sidelines for the next six months. (See here .) What’s more, if US tariffs end up close to our assumptions, we think the …
While cutting interest rates from 4.75% to 4.50% today, which was the third 25 basis point (bps) cut in seven months, the Bank of England showed some signs that it may cut rates faster and further than our forecast of a decline to 3.50% by early 2026. …
We’d previously argued that President Trump was likely to try to bring the MENA region into the US’s sphere of influence, but controversial statements on the future of Gaza have brought that into question. In a joint press conference with Israeli Prime …
Easing cycle resumes, rates on their way to neutral The Czech National Bank (CNB) cut its policy rate by 25bp today, to 3.75%, and we think that further easing lies in store this year. Our forecast for the policy rate to fall to 3.00% by end-2025 would …
For updated and more detail analysis see here . Dovish development adds downside risk to our forecast for Bank Rate to fall to 3.50% While cutting interest rates from 4.75% to 4.50% today, which was the third 25bps cut in seven months, the Bank of …
Mozambique’s post-election woes are mounting after another reported delay to one of its key natural gas projects. And this has led to increasing talk that the government may seek to restructure its debt pile. If sovereign default was to occur, the lesson …
Retail sales lose momentum in Q4 December’s fall in euro-zone retail sales means that growth over Q4 as a whole slowed substantially. We suspect that spending growth will remain subdued in the coming quarters. The 0.2% m/m decline in euro-zone retail …
Rise in interest rates puts a dampener on construction activity The headline CIPS construction PMI dropped to 48.1 in January, from 53.3 in December, indicating the first contraction in activity since February 2024. The decline in the headline balance …
Despite the recent weak news on activity and the uncertainty around the global outlook due to Trump’s US import tariffs, the stronger news on domestic price pressures means the Bank of England will probably continue to cut interest rates only gradually. …
5th February 2025
Survey evidence remains soft The fall in the ISM services index to 52.8 in December lends some support to our view that GDP growth will slow in the next couple of quarters, albeit with the caveat that the surveys have proved to be a poor guide to GDP in …
This is the first in a series of pieces that revisit our pandemic-era forecasts about the future of global real estate markets and cities and explore how they will evolve in the coming years. This dedicated page highlights key analysis from our earlier …
President Donald Trump’s eleventh-hour decision to delay the 25% tariffs he had threatened to impose on Canada and Mexico is a good reminder of his unpredictable nature. We don’t think Trump’s U-turn necessarily means he’s bluffing about other tariffs – …
Trade deficit swells as businesses front-run tariffs The trade deficit ballooned to a 3-year high of $98.4bn in December, up from $78.9bn, as imports surged by 3.5% and exports fell by 2.6%. The strength of imports appears largely driven by businesses …
Strong end to 2024 but little reason for optimism in 2025 The surge in exports in December and recent improvement in the export order survey indicators add to the evidence that the economy was picking up momentum at the end of last year. The prospect of …