China Economics Update New account openings add fire to rally in equities Chinese equities have continued to surge, helped by a further jump in new account openings. Although equity prices are looking increasingly divorced from economic fundamentals, with policymakers set... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Nickel’s rollercoaster ride may not be over, yet After sliding to six-year lows earlier in the month, nickel prices have rebounded sharply in the last week to around $13,500 per tonne. Although we are positive on the medium-term outlook, the latest... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Energy Update Non-OPEC & non-US oil production holding up, for now Oil production outside the US and OPEC has been barely affected by the dramatic slump in prices over the last year. However, the effects of lower oil prices are likely to make themselves felt... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly How fragile is Malaysia? Given that Malaysia is Emerging Asia’s largest net energy exporter it is no surprise that the ringgit has been the region’s worst performing currency over the last nine months. Now that oil prices... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Investment activity tentatively bouncing back The government’s plans to boost capital expenditure, along with looser monetary policy, should help to support the recent pick-up in investment activity over the coming months. But continued... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash CPI (Apr.) & Unemployment (Mar.) While the recent bout of falling prices in the euro-zone ended in April, the threat of deflation in the currency union has certainly not lifted altogether. 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Land Registry Repeat Sales Index (Mar.) The Land Registry reported a not insignificant fall of 0.8% in house prices in March. While that may appear to contradict yesterday’s far stronger Nationwide report, looking through the monthly... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Land Registry Repeat Sales Index (Mar.) The Land Registry reported a not insignificant fall of 0.8% in house prices in March. While that may appear to contradict yesterday’s far stronger Nationwide report, looking through the monthly... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Election 2015 Preview The economic outlook will not turn on a sixpence after the election. Granted, the election may mark only the start of a period of political uncertainty and, on paper, the differences between Labour’s... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
UK Data Response GfK/NOP Consumer Confidence (Apr.) The latest consumer confidence figures provided another reason to think that Q1’s slowdown in economic growth will prove short lived. Indeed, with real incomes growing strongly, we expect household... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Spanish GDP (Q1 est.) & CPI (April) While Spain’s economic recovery gathered further pace in the first quarter, the large amount of spare capacity left in the economy is sustaining deflationary pressures. 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ edging closer to cutting rates Although the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) once again left interest rates unchanged today, theshift from a neutral policy bias to an implicit loosening bias supports our view that interest rates... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Central Bank of Egypt shifts attention back on to inflation Interest rate decisions by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) are notoriously difficult to predict but it seems that, having been distracted by balance of payments concerns over the past few years... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan will have to ease more before long The Bank of Japan today decided to leave policy settings unchanged, thus ignoring signs that its efforts to lift inflation towards the 2% target are stalling. However, we think that the threat of... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil hike rates; all eyes now on the real Calling turning points is always tricky but, assuming that the real remains stable over the coming months, we think that last night’s 50bp increase in Brazilian interest rates to 13.25% could be the... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Taiwan GDP (Q1) Growth in Taiwan held up well in the first quarter, despite the recent slowdown in global growth. What's more, the economy looks set for a pick-up during the rest of the year, particularly since the... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
