Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan will delay rate hike until January While the economic case for tighter monetary policy remains intact, we suspect that the Bank of Japan will use the pressure by Japan’s incoming government as an opportunity to delay rate hikes until... 8th October 2025 · 4 mins read
APAC Commercial Property Update China's office market weakness to persist through 2027 Mainland China’s office market has been in a prolonged downturn since 2018 as structural headwinds, including weak economic growth, cautious corporate hiring, and rampant new supply have kept vacancy... 8th October 2025 · 4 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Labour Cash Earnings (Aug. 25) The sharp slowdown in wage growth in August largely reflects the end of the summer bonus season and regular earnings growth seems to be settling around 2%-2.5%. 8th October 2025 · 2 mins read
Capital Daily What to make of the latest bond market mess While long-term government bond yields have stabilised today, political developments in France and Japan over recent days highlight how fiscal uncertainty continues to put upward pressure on long-term... 7th October 2025 · 4 mins read
India Economics Update Why the Bihar state election matters The state election in Bihar in November will be the first since the deterioration in relations between India and the US. Bihar also happens to be one of India’s most agrarian states. A strong... 7th October 2025 · 3 mins read
Japan Economics Update Japan’s profitability will continue to lag the US An improvement in corporate governance is a key reason behind the structural pick-up in corporate profit margins over the past two decades. However, even if corporate governance was improved further... 7th October 2025 · 4 mins read
Capital Daily Future looks bright for Japan’s stock market even if yen rebounds The slump in the yen that accompanied Sanae Takaichi’s unexpected victory in Saturday’s LDP leadership election helps to explain why the stock market in Japan soared on Monday. But there are other... 6th October 2025 · 5 mins read
Asia Economics Update Time to worry about political stability in Asia? Political protests have surged across Asia this year, fuelled by frustration with corruption, inequality, and job insecurity. While the immediate economic and market impact is likely to be limited, a... 6th October 2025 · 4 mins read
Asia Rapid Response Vietnam GDP (Q3 2025) Vietnam’s economy remained strong in the third quarter, and we expect it to continue posting healthy growth rates ahead as the hit from US tariffs proves manageable. 6th October 2025 · 2 mins read
Japan Economics Update What would PM Takaichi mean for Japan? We doubt that incoming PM Sanae Takaichi will prevent the Bank of Japan from hiking interest rates altogether though her victory makes it less likely that the Bank will hike this year. In fact, any... 6th October 2025 · 5 mins read
FX Markets Weekly Wrap Shutdown stasis looms for the dollar The dollar has weakened a little this week on the back of some softer US employment and activity data. The US government shutdown does not appear to have made much impact, consistent with previous... 3rd October 2025 · 5 mins read
China Economics Weekly Early signals of Five-Year Plan priorities China's 15th Five-Year Plan will be finalised at the Fourth Plenum later this month. There are limited signs so far of a significant shift in the leadership's priorities – it seems likely that... 3rd October 2025 · 5 mins read
India Economics Weekly Banking sector cheers RBI reforms The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.50% this week but struck a fairly dovish tone, suggesting that further interest rate cuts are still likely in the coming months. The... 3rd October 2025 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Korea defence spending boost, Thailand stimulus South Korea this week confirmed plans to lift defence spending by 8.2% in 2026, the sharpest rise in nearly 20 years, as US pressure pushes allies to shoulder more of their own security burden. Korea... 3rd October 2025 · 7 mins read
Capital Daily For JGBs, the data are more important than the politics Regardless of who wins Japan’s LDP leadership election this weekend, we expect a further sell-off in long-dated JGBs over the next year or two. 3rd October 2025 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Hawkish BoJ tilt points to October rate hike While BoJ Governor Ueda acknowledged that Japan’s economy has so far shrugged off the impact of higher US tariffs, he warned that downside risks persist. Nonetheless, with the Governor admitting that... 3rd October 2025 · 5 mins read