Commodities Update China’s commodity imports end 2017 with a slump China’s commodity imports dropped in December, coming off strong growth in November. But volumes remained healthy for 2017 as a whole. We expect imports to fall back as growth in China’s economy slows... 12th January 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swedish Consumer Prices (Dec.) Swedish policymakers will be discouraged by the fact that the decline in inflation in December was due to slower inflation for domestic goods and services. But with resource utilisation strong... 12th January 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly How fast will the BoJ reduce its asset purchases? A reduction in the size of the BoJ’s JGB auction moved markets this week. This wasn’t policy tapering in an effort to reduce stimulus: the Bank now only buys what is needed to maintain the yield... 12th January 2018 · 1 min read
China Data Response Bank Lending & Broad Credit (Dec.) The slowdown in broad credit growth that has been underway since mid-2016 continued last month. Policymakers may welcome this progress toward deleveraging for now. But we think the drag on economic... 12th January 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi households to be a weak spot in 2018 The Saudi government looks set to loosen fiscal policy this year which should support a pick-up in economic growth. However, as we explain in this Watch, households won’t be net beneficiaries from... 12th January 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Emerging Markets Capital Flows Monitor (Dec.) Our tracker suggests that EM capital outflows picked up a bit in December, but remained slow over the year as a whole. Portfolio flows into EMs hit a record high last year, and look strong going into... 12th January 2018 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Peru’s central bank still has room to trim rates further Peru’s central bank cut its policy interest rate last night by 25bp to 3.00% and, while the statement didn’t give much away regarding future moves, we still think there’s room for another 25bp cut in... 12th January 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly The export rebound is unsustainable Despite the decent outlook for global growth over the next year, we doubt the recent rebound in Asian export volumes will be sustained. If we are right, then regional growth is likely to slow, with... 12th January 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Rest of the world catches up with Australia 2018 may be the year that the Australian economy fails to grow at a much faster pace than the majority of its peers and its interest rate premium is wiped out. This may mean that 10-year bond yields... 12th January 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economic Outlook EM cycle to turn in 2018 Several major EMs, notably Brazil and Russia, are likely to experience a pick-up in growth this year. But in others, including China, the cycle is now peaking. The net result is that, in contrast to... 11th January 2018 · 1 min read
Metals Watch Have we got too excited about EVs? Electric vehicle sales have skyrocketed over the past few years. As a result, the sector has become a growing source of demand for metals. In this Metals Watch, we look at the latest trends in... 11th January 2018 · 1 min read
Capital Daily Rally in EM equities likely to run out of steam this year 11th January 2018 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Revisiting Nafta (again) Concerns over the fate of Nafta have caused more wobbles in Mexican markets over the past day, but the economic implications are less straightforward than much of the commentary suggests. While any... 11th January 2018 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update Will apartment rental growth slow further in 2018? A multifamily construction boom during 2015 and 2016 has boosted apartment vacancy rates, and pushed rental growth to a six-year low. But developers are already scaling back multifamily construction... 11th January 2018 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Will 2018 be a last hurrah for the US dollar? We expect the dollar to stage a modest rebound against most other developed market currencies this year, as the contrast in the monetary policies of the Fed and other major central banks generally... 11th January 2018 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Bank lending still going strong Monetary conditions should stay accommodative this year, even though the ECB has scaled back its asset purchases this month and the Fed will continue to gradually reduce its balance sheet. Bank... 11th January 2018 · 1 min read
