Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash PMIs & German Ifo (May) May’s falls in the euro-zone PMI and German Ifo business surveys are slightly worrying signs, but both still point to pretty strong growth for the time being. 21st May 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Focus Colombia elections: Reasons not to fear a Mockus victory We think that concerns that the possible election of Antanas Mockus as President of Colombia could spark a sell-off in the markets are overdone. While his unorthodox approach may cause some market... 21st May 2010 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update What next for commodities? The sharp falls in many commodity prices over the past month reflect a mix of pressures and worries, some of which are temporary but most of which are not. We continue to expect further falls by the... 20th May 2010 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack Consumer spending fragile ahead of fiscal squeeze (May 10) Consumer spending has struggled to pick up again even though the various temporary factors weighing on spending earlier in the year have now disappeared. The consumer recovery may yet gain some... 20th May 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand’s Budget moving in the right direction Today’s Budget in New Zealand aims to boost savings and business spending, whilst pulling back consumption and investment in the property market. The target is to eliminate the budget deficit by 2015... 20th May 2010 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update The recovery in house-building will be slow Despite a 73% rise in private housing starts over the past year, the bigger picture is that housebuilding activity in England remains extremely subdued and that is unlikely to change rapidly. Indeed... 20th May 2010 · 1 min read
Non-Euro Europe Commercial Property Chart Pack 2010 off to a better start than 2009 (May 10) Although investment activity generally softened, the bigger picture was that the health of investment markets across non-euro-zone Europe continued to improve in Q1 2010. Indeed, yields fell in almost... 20th May 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Taiwan on top of the world, but not for long Taiwan’s economy will be one of the world’s best performers in 2010, but underlying structural problems will increasingly weigh on growth as the year goes on. 20th May 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Data Response RICS Construction Survey (Q1 10) The latest RICS Construction Survey suggested that the sector as a whole returned to growth in Q1. Commercial property construction led that recovery, implying that developers’ optimism about the... 20th May 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Where does Thailand go from here? Political unrest will continue in Thailand but we suspect that the level of instability will subside to where it was in 2006-09 when the economy was still able to perform reasonably well. We still... 20th May 2010 · 1 min read
UK Data Response UK Retail Sales (Apr.) April’s UK retail sales figures confirmed that high street spending continues to expand at a modest pace. With consumers set to shoulder a large part of the coming fiscal squeeze, the outlook for... 20th May 2010 · 1 min read
UK Data Response UK Retail Sales (Apr.) April’s UK retail sales figures confirmed that high street spending continues to expand at a modest pace. With consumers set to shoulder a large part of the coming fiscal squeeze, the outlook for... 20th May 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Norwegian GDP (Q1) Q1’s unexpected fall in GDP casts further doubt on the strength of the Norwegian recovery and supports our view that the Norges Bank will not increase interest rates as rapidly as its forecasts... 20th May 2010 · 1 min read
