US Economics Update Fed sticks to QE taper, drops unemployment threshold As expected, the Fed continued to taper its asset purchases and dropped its explicit unemployment rate threshold, reverting to a more qualitative form of forward guidance in today's policy statement... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Hand of People’s Bank seen in currency fall A rare trade deficit in February relieved some of the upward pressure on therenminbi, but the latest data suggest that the People’s Bank (PBOC) additionally purchased around $25bn of foreign exchange... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Chart Pack China fears resurface Worries about the impact on other emerging economies of a slowdown in China have risen back to the top of the agenda over the past month. While we do not believe a hard landing is likely, we do expect... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Budget 2014: Mr Osborne keeps the shackles in place This was a fiscally neutral Budget which, from a macro-economic standpoint, changes very little. With the fiscal consolidation set to continue for at least another five years, the responsibility for... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Ukraine crisis as likely to result in lower as higher oil prices Concerns about potential disruption to Russian energy exports initially caused oil and natural gas prices to rise as the crisis in Ukraine unfolded, and they may yet do so again. But global energy... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Weather adds to upside risks to food inflation As a lot of the surge in food prices in February is due to the extreme weather, it is unlikely to be sustained. Nonetheless, the risks to our forecast that food price inflation will climb from 1.4% in... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Update Quebec might do better with its own currency Pauline Marois, leader of the separatist Parti Quebecois (PQ), has suggested that an independent Quebec could hold a seat on the governing council of the Bank of Canada and retain the Canadian dollar... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Regional vulnerabilities rising, but differentiation is needed Clouds have gathered over the outlook for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the past few months due to growing concerns over widening twin budget and current account deficits and the effects of a slowdown... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Veneto vote highlights Italy and EU policy challenges While the continuing independence vote in Italy’s Veneto region may prove of little direct importance, the poll highlights the breadth of challenges facing Mr Renzi’s new Government and the difficulty... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update What effect will the weaker krone have on Oslo industrial rents? The Norwegian krone is not a key driver of industrial rental values in Oslo. That said, at the margin, the currency’s fall is another reason to expect the recovery in industrial rental values over the... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Labour Data (Jan./Feb.) & MPC Minutes (Mar.) Today’s figures showed that the recovery in the labour market is slowing, increasing the chances that the MPC keeps official interest rates on hold until late next year. 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Data Response Institutional Investment in Property (Q4 13) Official data confirm that institutional demand for UK commercial property assets ended last year on a high. However, more timely data suggest that 2014 has got off to a quieter start. Nevertheless... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Commodities Update It's time to differentiate more between metals As copper and iron ore prices went into apparent freefall last week, one might have expected a general sell-off in metals markets. However, the response of other metals prices was more nuanced, with... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Sedlabanki softens its stance but rates are still likely to rise In light of the recent drop in inflation, Iceland’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged today and suggested that rate hikes were less probable than they had been in February. However, with... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Is Spain's recovery building momentum? Although timely activity indicators suggest that the Spanish economy may have built a bit of momentum at the start of 2014, we suspect that the recovery will remain disappointingly weak. 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Help to Buy equity loans – what have they achieved? Help to Buy equity loans have proved very popular, but their direct impact on the housing market recovery has been overstated. The extension to the scheme will give housebuilders the confidence to... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
