China Rapid Response China Activity & Spending (Apr. 2026) Domestic headwinds look to have intensified last month, especially when it comes to construction activity. But with external demand picking up and the electronics sector in an upswing, we still think... 18th May 2026 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly BI meets amid rupiah weakness, Malaysia’s resilience While it is likely to be a close call, we expect Bank Indonesia to keep policy rates unchanged at its upcoming meetings despite rupiah weakness, preferring instead to rely on FX intervention to... 15th May 2026 · 6 mins read
China Economics Update Trump-Xi summit: Truce continues, substance lacking While we are still waiting for full details on what was agreed at the summit between Presidents Trump and Xi, it seems mostly just to have cemented the existing trade truce. This should ensure near... 15th May 2026 · 6 mins read
India Economics Weekly One battle after another for INR, pump prices hiked Policymakers’ concerns about the depreciation of the rupee have again come to the fore this week, but the hike in gold import tariffs has done little to prevent the currency from sliding further... 15th May 2026 · 4 mins read
China Economics Weekly Don’t take a deal at face value, AI investment ramps up A key outcome of President Trump’s previous trip to China in 2017 was a package of “trade and investment deals” that the White House valued at more than $250bn. But the bulk of these deals never... 15th May 2026 · 6 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Hawkish BoJ lifts 10-year yield to three-decade high The 10-year JGB yield climbed to a three decade high this week in response to hawkish signals from the Bank of Japan and reports that the government will compile a supplementary budget to keep the... 15th May 2026 · 7 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Fuel price shock driving EM inflation higher Inflation data for April released across EMs suggest that the energy price shock has pushed fuel inflation up materially and that surveys of firms’ inflation expectations are rising sharply. So far... 14th May 2026 · 3 mins read
China Rapid Response Bank Lending & Broad Credit (Apr.) The net increase in new credit slumped in April. While that partly reflects the usual seasonal pattern, year-on-year growth in aggregate financing to the real economy (AFRE – the PBOC’s preferred... 14th May 2026 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Could the Iran crisis pull the plug on Asia’s chipmakers? If disruption to energy imports resulted in power shortages in South Korea or Taiwan, governments in both places would prioritise chipmakers over households so that chip production could continue to... 14th May 2026 · 3 mins read
China Economics Update Iran war may help rather than hurt China’s growth Despite high global energy prices, China’s economy is stronger now than at the start of the year. An AI-related boost to investment and electronics exports is playing a role. But China has also... 13th May 2026 · 5 mins read
Global Economics Update First signs of advanced economy fallout from Iran war The marked increase in inflation across advanced economies has yet to cause real spending to contract, but the widespread decline in consumer sentiment and hiring intentions points to worse to come... 12th May 2026 · 3 mins read
Capital Daily Strait still closed; Trump goes to China; Starmer clings on Neither US-Iran negotiations nor the Trump-Xi summit appear to offer much cause for cheer, and UK politics are inching towards another precipice, but equity markets appear determined to party on. 11th May 2026 · 5 mins read
China Rapid Response China Consumer & Producer Prices (Apr. 2026) The fallout from the Iran War pushed up inflation again in April but price pressures remain narrow in scope and aren't likely to build into a wider reflationary impulse. Inflation looks set to climb a... 11th May 2026 · 2 mins read
China Rapid Response China Merchandise Trade (Apr. 2026) Higher oil prices pushed up import values last month. But soaring chip prices are having an even bigger impact on China’s trade data, pushing up both exports and imports. Price effects aside, the big... 11th May 2026 · 3 mins read
China Economics Weekly Trump-Xi summit will buy time, not resolve differences Next week's summit between Xi and Trump seems unlikely to deliver much beyond a continuation of the existing truce, although a shift in US language on Taiwan in exchange for pressure on Iran or large... 8th May 2026 · 8 mins read
