Latin America Economics Update What next for Brazil interest rates? We expect the Central Bank of Brazil to shift its bias towards looser policy over the coming months, but both the timing and the size of any cuts in interest rates will be determined by what happens... 29th March 2016 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response China and India’s gold imports (Feb.) Gold imports by both China and India remained weak in February. We think this was partly due to the strength of the gold price and partly to temporary factors, notably the Lunar New Year holidays in... 29th March 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone Monetary Indicators Monitor (Feb.) February’s euro-zone monetary data suggest that December’s interest rate cut by the ECB had only a small effect. While the Bank has since increased its stimulus, we doubt that this will boost money... 29th March 2016 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Small Business Confidence (Mar.) The rebound in small business confidence in March is due to seasonal patterns. In fact, the survey points to falling industrial output. 29th March 2016 · 1 min read
RBI Watch Stage set for further modest loosening It's not a done deal yet, but the balance appears to be tipped towards the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deliver ing another interest rate cut in next week's policy meeting . This is due to a number of... 29th March 2016 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Unemployment, Household Spending & Retail Sales (Feb.) While the labour market remains tight, consumer spending may only have rebounded marginally this quarter. 29th March 2016 · 1 min read
US Chart Pack Fed can’t ignore pick-up in core inflation much longer It is becoming increasingly apparent that many Fed officials are underestimating the degree to which inflation will rise in the second half of the year. Fed officials expect core PCE inflation will... 28th March 2016 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Underlying inflation to moderate further The Bank of Japan’s new favourite inflation gauge remained below its December peak in February. Sizeable spare capacity and falling import prices suggest that price pressures will moderate further. 28th March 2016 · 1 min read
Global Trade Monitor Recovery in commodity prices to boost world trade values The volume of world trade contracted slightly at the start of the year and it is likely to remain sluggish in the coming months. However, the recovery in commodity prices, which we expect to continue... 24th March 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Markets pause for a reality check Industrial commodity prices have typically eased back in the past week in sympathy with other assets, as markets have reassessed the outlook for US interest rates and the dollar. In particular,... 24th March 2016 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly More than just red flag waving from the FPC soon? The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) had a lot on its plate at last week’s meeting, with concerns about the impact of a Brexit only adding to the long list of existing risks to financial stability... 24th March 2016 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack Consumer recovery still going strong The consumer recovery is still going strong, with household spending the driving force of the overall economic recovery. Although the retail sales figures have been a bit volatile recently, the... 24th March 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Lack of labour market reform will restrict France’s recovery Although the French economy appeared to make a decent start to the year, surveys published this week supported our view that the recovery’s underlying momentum will remain very weak. And the... 24th March 2016 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Liberal’s infrastructure spending won’t boost economy The Liberal government’s budget plan to lift the economy over the next two years with close to C$12bn in infrastructure funding will be a tall task, one that we would not count on to produce much... 24th March 2016 · 1 min read
Global Central Bank Watch What do tightening labour markets mean for monetary policy? Labour markets in all the major advanced economies have been tightening for several years, and in many cases they are now close to full employment. At face value this suggests that the world may be on... 24th March 2016 · 1 min read