Middle East & North Africa Economics Update PMIs suggest Saudi domestic demand may have weakened March’s PMIs from the MENA region, released earlier today, show that the UAE’s non-oil economy continues to strengthen, but domestic demand in Saudi Arabia may have weakened in recent months... 3rd April 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil hikes but hints that tightening cycle now over Brazil’s central bank raised interest rates last night, but changes to the accompanying statement suggest this could be the final increase in this tightening cycle. Nonetheless, with inflation once... 3rd April 2014 · 1 min read
Japan Chart Pack Investors’ verdict may be too harsh The enthusiasm with which Abenomics was first greeted seems to have given way to a more sober assessment in recent months. While the US stock market has scaled new heights, the Nikkei is down around... 3rd April 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Euro-zone recovery gradually building momentum The key euro-zone surveys of activity and sentiment continued to pick up in Q1, particularly in the periphery, suggesting that GDP growth in the region as a whole may have been a bit stronger than in... 2nd April 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Ghana’s tightening cycle not over yet The Bank of Ghana kept interest rates on hold at 18.0% today, but rising inflation and a rapidly weakening currency mean that rates are still likely to be hiked again before the end of this year. We... 2nd April 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Where next for Stockholm office yields? The fact that office yields in Stockholm have fallen below retail yields looks like a mispricing that will be reversed in due course. The good news, however, is that the Swedish economy and occupier... 2nd April 2014 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Is the Aussie dollar heading down under? The Australian dollar has been one of this year’s best performing major currencies. But given the outlook for monetary policy and the prices of some of Australia’s major exports, we think that it will... 2nd April 2014 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Autos and ACA enrolees support consumption growth The rebound in auto sales in March and the rush to sign up for health insurance in recent weeks means that the slowdown in real consumption growth in the first quarter may not be as marked as... 2nd April 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update EM manufacturing recovery falters Manufacturing across the emerging world appears to have taken another turn for the worse in the first quarter of this year. This was largely driven by a renewed downturn in the BRIC economies. By... 2nd April 2014 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Applications (Mar.14) The slight increase in mortgage applications for home purchase in March was a step in the right direction. But mortgage demand will have to rise much more strongly than this if mortgage-dependent... 2nd April 2014 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Data Response CIPS/Markit Construction PMI (Mar.14) The CIPS/Markit construction PMI showed that growth in commercial property development was strong again in March. This signals healthy confidence in the outlook for occupier demand. Indeed, the risks... 2nd April 2014 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Nationwide House Prices (Mar.14) According to the Nationwide, the growth in national house prices eased a touch in March. But London doesn’t appear to have got the memo, and annual growth in the capital reached an 11-year high in the... 2nd April 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Mexican industry set to pick up, despite drop in PMI Brazil’s manufacturing PMI picked up a little in March, while Mexico’s manufacturing PMI edged down. But the bigger picture is that Brazil’s manufacturing sector is still barely growing. By contrast... 1st April 2014 · 1 min read
EM Valuations Monitor Will credit spreads continue to fall in Latin America? The “stripped spread” over US Treasuries of the JP Morgan EMBI Global Latin America Index fell by 30bp in March, bringing its decline since the start of February to almost a full percentage point... 1st April 2014 · 1 min read
Commodities Update US farmers to prioritise soybeans over corn Large potential plantings of soybeans, corn and wheat by US farmers underpin our view that US grain and soybeans prices are likely to fall over the course of this year. 1st April 2014 · 1 min read
