China Economics Weekly Consumer spending is back on track The Labour Day holiday was a key test of China’s consumer recovery. It passed with flying colours – domestic travel and tourism returned to normal, while retail sales look to have returned to the pre... 5th May 2023 · 8 mins read
India Economics Weekly Strength of PMIs unlikely to support another rate hike The PMI surveys for April released this week suggest that India’s economy started Q2 on a strong footing. But they are at odds with several other indicators that point to an unspectacular near-term... 5th May 2023 · 5 mins read
Event EM Asia Drop-In: Thailand’s election and near to long-term economic risks 1683792000 The Thai economy is poised for recovery this year, but before that the country faces a contentious general election on 14th May which could be a trigger for fresh political unrest.
Asia Data Response Indonesia GDP (Q1) Economic growth in Indonesia was unchanged at 5.0% y/y in the first quarter of the year, but we think growth will slow over coming months as tight monetary policy and weaker exports drag on activity. 5th May 2023 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Wage growth has yet to peak Pay hikes under Australia's private-sector enterprise bargaining agreements have gained traction. Although annualised wage growth will climb higher over the course of the year, we still expect a... 5th May 2023 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Wage growth set to moderate as labour market cools The Bank of Japan thinks that more pronounced labour shortages at smaller firms will prompt them to eventually catch up with bigger firms by granting larger pay hikes. However, with the labour market... 5th May 2023 · 5 mins read
Commodities Update Commodity prices to struggle in the next few months The key message from the latest China PMIs is that whilst China’s economy is likely to grow strongly this quarter, momentum is fading. This will be one factor weighing on commodity prices in the near... 4th May 2023 · 2 mins read
Japan Economics Update Wage growth stronger than official figures suggest The slowdown in regular earnings at the start of the year largely reflects sampling changes, with an unchanged sample of firms reporting continued strong wage growth. However, with inflation set to... 4th May 2023 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia International Trade (Mar. 2023) The widening of the trade surplus in recent months belies the negligible contribution that net exports will have made to Q1 GDP. Indeed, we think the weakness in import values last quarter primary... 4th May 2023 · 2 mins read
China Rapid Response PMIs (Apr.) The latest survey data add to wider evidence that while China’s recovery remains robust, it is losing some momentum. In particular, the manufacturing PMIs fell below 50, suggesting that the reopening... 4th May 2023 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Rapid Response Australia International Trade (Mar. 23) 4th May 2023 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia: Surprise hike, but further tightening unlikely Malaysia’s central bank (BNM) unexpectedly raised its main policy rate (OPR) today by 25bps (to 3.0%), citing the resilient economy as grounds to “further normalise the degree of monetary... 3rd May 2023 · 3 mins read
India Data Response PMI Surveys (Apr.) India’s manufacturing and services PMI readings rose in April but are at odds with the hard activity data that point to more subdued domestic and external demand. 3rd May 2023 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Retail Sales (Mar.) While retail sales values rose at a decent pace in March, we estimate that sales volumes fell the most since 2021’s lockdowns last quarter and that weakness has further to run. That in turn should... 3rd May 2023 · 2 mins read