Global Economics Update President Trump has little power over currency markets The new US administration has made a lot of noise about currencies during its first few weeks. But there is little chance of it engineering a move away from the system of free-floating exchange rates... 16th February 2017 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Angola: New GDP figures raise fresh debt worries Revised official GDP figures show that Angola’s economic slump is even worse than we’d thought. The revisions add to our concerns about the sustainability of the country’s large debt burden. Angola’s... 16th February 2017 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Is the RBA’s optimism signal or spin? There is definitely a role for the Reserve Bank of Australia to manage expectations by signalling where it thinks the economy is heading. But by sounding more optimistic than its own forecasts, there... 16th February 2017 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Export rebound continues Trade data for January show that export values continued to recover last month. Looking ahead, export growth should remain positive, but the government’s long-term target still looks out of reach... 16th February 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Labour Market (Jan.) January’s labour market figures highlight that jobs growth has sustained its recent momentum, but the now-familiar problem of the new jobs being mostly part-time ones rather than full-time ones also... 16th February 2017 · 1 min read
Energy Data Response US Weekly Petroleum Status Report US crude oil inventories continued to rise last week, albeit at a slower rate than in the previous one. Gasoline stocks also increased, after a small reduction a week earlier. 15th February 2017 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Consumers unruffled by fluctuations in wider economy Despite major swings in the wider economy over the past two years, growth in consumer spending appears to have been relatively stable. The latest data on retail sales in the Chinese New Year period... 15th February 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Jan.) Despite record-low bank lending rates and extraordinarily loose credit conditions, growth in bank lending has not picked up since the launch of Quantitative and Qualitative Easing. One consequence is... 15th February 2017 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update Silver mine supply could bounce back Oversupply has been plaguing the silver market for the past ten years. However, the latest data show that production cuts across the industrial and precious metal industries are starting to take their... 15th February 2017 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Manufacturing Sales (Dec.) The manufacturing sector ended last year in spectacular fashion, with sales volumes rising strongly for a second consecutive month in December. This strength is partly due to a rebound in the... 15th February 2017 · 1 min read
US Data Response Consumer Prices, Retail Sales & Ind. Prod’n (Jan.) On balance, we still don’t think the Fed will raise interest rates at the March FOMC meeting, but the bigger than expected 0.6% m/m surge in consumer prices in January, which pushed the annual CPI... 15th February 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Key questions ahead of the Dutch general election With one month to go until the Dutch general election, in this Update we answer twelve questions about the vote and the possible consequences of a victory for the anti-EU Party for Freedom (PVV). 15th February 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Rise in Dublin industrial rents not finished yet Strong demand resulting from Ireland’s economic recovery combined with limited supply has pushed prime industrial rents in Dublin up by 45% since 2013. Even so, with these tailwinds set to continue... 15th February 2017 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Data Response Employment (Dec.) Today’s data show that the labour market is holding up well. That said, with employee numbers flat, occupier demand looks set to be steady rather than resurgent. 15th February 2017 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South Africa: Economy stagnated in Q4 December’s retail sales figures were weaker than expected, but tepid growth in the sector was still probably enough to prevent the South African economy from contracting in Q4. 15th February 2017 · 1 min read
