Chief Economist's Note Fracturing is more in focus as global tensions rise – but it’s still misunderstood An intense flurry of diplomatic activity last week laid bare the fault lines of a fracturing global economy. In the Middle East, Joe Biden, Olaf Scholz and Rishi Sunak made separate visits to Israel... 23rd October 2023
China Economics Weekly GDP breakdown suggests service sector still struggling The official GDP figures show a marked acceleration in quarter-on-quarter growth in Q3. But a closer look at the data suggests that this may be a statistical mirage. We think that growth slowed last... 20th October 2023 · 4 mins read
Asset Allocation Update On the relative performance of assets in China & the US We think both the recent outperformance of China’s sovereign bonds relative to those in the US and the underperformance of its equities will end – and may even reverse somewhat – in the near future... 20th October 2023 · 5 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update EM exports treading water Aggregate EM goods exports have struggled for momentum in recent months and, while there were more positive signs from some of the timely September trade data, we think that exports are likely to... 18th October 2023 · 3 mins read
Capital Daily China’s economic momentum may help its struggling equities We think China’s improving economy may help stop the fall in the country’s stock markets, and see them outperform those of the US for a bit. 18th October 2023 · 4 mins read
China Rapid Response GDP (Q3) & Activity (Sep.) According to official GDP, growth more than doubled in q/q terms between Q2 and Q3, reaching a healthy 5.3% annualised rate. Our China Activity Proxy suggests that momentum isn’t quite this strong... 18th October 2023 · 5 mins read
Industrial Metals Update Cobalt prices to drift lower through 2024 Cobalt is likely to keep its position as a leading battery metal for years to come, but its high cost compared to alternative metals means that cobalt demand won’t grow as fast as overall battery... 13th October 2023 · 4 mins read
Commodities Update China's commodity demand remains rock solid China imported fewer key commodities in September than in August, but its underlying demand for commodities, especially fossil fuels, remains strong and is only likely to strengthen from here. 13th October 2023 · 2 mins read
Event China Drop-In: Q3 data dump and the economic and policy outlook 1697616000 Economists from our China and financial markets teams held an online briefing about the Q3 economic data release and outlook for the Chinese economy and markets.
China Economics Weekly China’s AI chip challenge The US government appears to be about to tighten the controls that it brought in a year ago on China's access to cutting-edge chips. One consequence will be that Chinese firms will find it harder to... 13th October 2023 · 7 mins read
China Rapid Response Bank Lending & Broad Credit (Sep.) After slowing sharply in Q2, broad credit growth edged up in August and held steady last month. Although a sharp rebound seems unlikely, we do think credit growth could pick up somewhat over the... 13th October 2023 · 3 mins read
China Rapid Response Merchandise Trade (Sep.) China’s export values continued to contract year-on-year in September. But to the extent that foreign demand has cooled recently, it is being reflected in export prices rather than export volumes... 13th October 2023 · 2 mins read
China Rapid Response Consumer & Producer Prices (Sep.) PPI deflation continued to ease in September. CPI inflation edged down, but core inflation remained at a six-month high, with services inflation staying at its highest in 19 months. We expect... 13th October 2023 · 3 mins read
China Economics Update Industry no offset for slump in property credit demand An increase in lending to other parts of China’s economy has provided a counter-balance to the slump in credit demand that was triggered by the property crisis, but still only a partial one. 12th October 2023 · 4 mins read
China Economics Update Why is China’s commodities demand so strong? China’s recent commodity demand has been stronger than might have been expected given the weakness of its economy and commodity-intensive property sector in particular. This partly reflects a step-up... 12th October 2023 · 5 mins read
China Economics Weekly PBOC has CNH on a leash, domestic tourism picks up PBOC intervention in Hong Kong kept the offshore renminbi largely stable against the dollar this week even as US yields jumped. This lowers the chance of a large adjustment to the daily fixing rate... 6th October 2023 · 7 mins read