Japan Data Response Consumer Confidence (Jul.) Japanese households seem unconvinced that the resounding victory of the ruling coalition in the Upper House elections will improve their living conditions in coming months. At least their inflation... 2nd August 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Rates in Australia may yet have to fall to 1.0% If it is going to weaken the Australian dollar to help solve its low inflation problem, the Reserve Bank of Australia may have to follow today’s 0.25% interest rate cut to a new record low of 1.5%... 2nd August 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia International Trade & Building Approvals (Jun.) The weak outlook for inflation is enough on its own to prompt the RBA to cut interest rates to 1.5% at the policy meeting later today, but mounting evidence that economic growth lost a lot of momentum... 2nd August 2016 · 1 min read
RBI Watch Rates to stay on hold as Rajan heads for the exit Governor Raghuram Rajan has had a penchant for shocking financial markets during his three years at the helm of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), but we doubt that there are any surprises in store when... 2nd August 2016 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Swedish fundamentals stronger than Q2 GDP data suggest Sweden’s weak Q2 GDP growth rate is at odds with both the monthly economic data and the positive tone of recent surveys. As such, we suspect a decent rebound is on the cards for Q3. 2nd August 2016 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Global Manufacturing PMI (Jul.) Business surveys published today suggest that global manufacturing growth picked upin July, bucking the near-continuous downward trend seen since 2013. 1st August 2016 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Global growth held up well in Q2 National accounts data released in recent weeks suggest that global growth edged up in Q2. Butprospects for the rest of the year are mixed. The euro-zone economy will probably slow further and theUK... 1st August 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update EM industry strengthens at the start of Q3 The sharp rise in the aggregate EM PMI in July suggests that after a brief pause in Q2, the recovery in EM industry resumed at the start of the third quarter. The improvement was driven largely by... 1st August 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update France’s Q2 stagnation likely to be more than a one-off While France’s stagnation in the second quarter was partly down to temporary factors, we doubt that there will be a strong rebound in Q3. Indeed, we think that the underlying pace of growth has now... 1st August 2016 · 1 min read
US Data Response ISM Manufacturing Index (July 2016) After last week’s disappointing second-quarter GDP data, the very minor fall in the ISM manufacturing index in July should soothe fears that the US economy is heading into a more serious downturn... 1st August 2016 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Brazil & Mexico Manufacturing PMIs (July) The jump in Brazil’s manufacturing PMI in July adds to the evidence that the economy has finally begun to turn the corner. Meanwhile, the fall in Mexico’s PMI suggests that the slowdown in the... 1st August 2016 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Stars continue to align for EM equities The rally in emerging market (EM) equities has been given another leg up as it has become less likely that the Fed will hike interest rates any time soon, and China’s economy has shown signs of... 1st August 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Italy and Ireland the losers from bank stress test The latest EU bank stress tests confirm that, on the whole, the region’s banks are in a much healthier position than a few years ago. However, there are still significant problems in some countries’... 1st August 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Chart Pack Industrial metals steal the show A sharp downturn in oil prices dragged the broad commodities indices lower last month so that equities outperformed. That said, there were pockets of strength, with nearly all the industrial metals... 1st August 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Data Response South Africa Manufacturing PMI (July) South Africa’s manufacturing PMI slipped a bit in July, but it still points to manufacturing output growth of about 5.0%. 1st August 2016 · 1 min read
