UK Economics Update Regional Monitor (Oct.) The latest regional activity surveys suggest that the southern regions of the UK have borne the brunt of the economy’s recent weakness. But there are signs that the North’s outperformance will be... 16th November 2011 · 1 min read
US Data Response Consumer Prices & Industrial Production (Oct.) Headline CPI inflation is now past its peak, falling to 3.5% in October, down from a high of 3.9% in September. It should drop to about 3.0% by the end of this year and plummet to nearer 2.0% by March... 16th November 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Are markets starting to price in a euro break-up? Financial markets seem finally to have started to accept that the euro-zone might actually break up. Regular readers will not be surprised to hear that we think this process has considerably further... 16th November 2011 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Land Registry Flash Repeat Sales Index (Oct.) The continued fall in the Land Registry’s measure of house prices is in contrast to the stability reported by the other main indices. Nevertheless, it sits comfortably with recent reports of large... 16th November 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Which sector might fare worst from the looming Italian recession? The prospect of a renewed recession in Italy is likely to mean that in each of the next two years all of the main commercial property sectors will see capital value falls. But the weak outlook for... 16th November 2011 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Can China's demand offset the impact of the euro crisis? The consensus view is that continued buoyant demand from China will prevent the prices of industrial commodities, such as crude oil and copper, from falling very far, despite the worsening financial... 16th November 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Will the new Spanish Government steady the ship? Although Spain is in a rather better position than its Southern European counterparts, the next Government still faces huge challenges and is unlikely to overcome them without outside help. 16th November 2011 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Focus Russia's new oil tax: radical reform or damp squib? The relative stagnation in Russian oil production over the past few years has long been a concern for policymakers. However, it seems unlikely that the new, more favourable, tax regime for Russian oil... 16th November 2011 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Bank of England Inflation Report (Nov.) November’s Bank of England Inflation Report clearly paved the way for a significant further extension of the MPC’s asset purchase programme. 16th November 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Chile, Peru play a waiting game on rates The Central Bank of Chile (CBC) kept its policy rate at 5.25% for a fifth successive month last night. While policymakers in Chile and Peru will continue to exercise caution by not rushing into easing... 16th November 2011 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Labour Market Data (Sep./Oct.) The latest employment figures showed that the labour market is continuing to deteriorate rapidly. We still think that ILO unemployment will rise above the 3 million mark within the next couple of... 16th November 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Is France falling out of the core? Growing concerns about France threaten to take the euro-zone crisis to a new level. If a further rise in bond yields or large bank losses leave France unable to support the periphery, the burden on... 16th November 2011 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Raising deposit rates is not enough to support the Egyptian pound The decision by privately-owned banks in Egypt to raise deposit rates by around two percentage points may slow the rate of dollarization of resident accounts, which could help the central bank in its... 15th November 2011 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Is there any upside from the euro-zone crisis? Our baseline scenario is that an escalation of the crisis in the euro-zone will contribute to further large falls in almost all commodity prices over the next year or so, with gold and silver among... 15th November 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Survey of Manufacturing (Sep.) The stronger than expected increase in September's manufacturing sales bodes well for monthly GDP growth, which we estimate at 0.2% m/m. As such, we have revised up third-quarter GDP growth, from 2.5%... 15th November 2011 · 1 min read