Latin America Data Response Chile GDP & Current Account (Q3) The acceleration in Chile’s GDP growth in the third quarter is an encouraging sign that, after a brief slowdown in the previous quarter, the economic recovery is back on track. GDP growth is still... 18th November 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Sentiment towards PMs sours again The prices of precious metals (PMs) have fallen sharply since mid-October. While expectations of a December hike by the Fed have been the biggest catalyst for moves in gold and silver prices, fears of... 18th November 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Has Italy really been the biggest beneficiary of QE? Recent suggestions that Italy has gained the most from QE paint a pretty bleak picture of the policy’s effectiveness. As it happens, we are not convinced that Italy has been the biggest winner. Either... 18th November 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Data Response South Africa Retail Sales (Sep.) September’s retail sales figures were weaker than expected, supporting our belief that recent strong growth in the consumer sector is unsustainable. But today’s figures do at least suggest that the... 18th November 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Brazil Economic Activity Indicator (Sep.) The huge 6.2% y/y decline in Brazil’s Economic Activity Indicator in September was the steepest fall on record and, at face value, is consistent with a contraction in GDP of close to 5% y/y over Q3 as... 18th November 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Oct.) Bank lending continues to expand at a robust pace, but the increase in domestic credit is dwarfed by the surge in foreign claims, with their yen-value inflated by the weaker exchange rate. 18th November 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Action on buy-to-let won’t be heavy handed By the end of the year, the Government is expected to have set out new powers for the Financial Policy Committee over the buy-to-let mortgage market. But the quality of lending to that sector doesn’t... 18th November 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Data Response South Africa Consumer Prices (Oct.) South African inflation accelerated to 4.7% y/y in October in what we believe is the beginning of a sharp inflationary spike. While tomorrow’s rate decision will be close, we expect that the SARB will... 18th November 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Focus What next for India’s consumers? India’s consumer market is often the subject of frenzied interest among investors and commentators but, in recent years, growth has been held back by both cyclical and structural headwinds. In this... 18th November 2015 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update The EM debt problem revisited The past few weeks have seen increased awareness of potential debt problems brewing in the emerging world. In general, debt burdens are lower and more manageable in most EMs than in the past. But... 17th November 2015 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Is the worst now over for the major commodity currencies? The dollars of Australia, New Zealand and Canada have come under fire again, as the prices of the commodities that they export have dropped back. We think these prices are likely to recover a little... 17th November 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Strong dollar puts pressure on commodities Commodity prices have suffered since the middle of October, with the Bloomberg Commodities Index underperforming equities by a sizeable margin. The strong appreciation of the US dollar weighed heavily... 17th November 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Data Response Nigeria GDP (Q3) GDP figures for Q3 support our long-held view that Nigeria’s 2015 economic performance will be far worse than is commonly expected. Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economy was just 2.8% in Q3... 17th November 2015 · 1 min read
Energy Update Risks to Middle East oil supplies remain high Ample global supply of oil means that prices are no longer incorporating much of a risk premium. However, the potential for disruption is still high and lack of spare capacity mean that prices could... 17th November 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Delinquencies (Q3) Low interest rates, falling unemployment and a reduction in the share of mortgages with negative equity all contributed to another drop in the delinquency rate in the third quarter. 17th November 2015 · 1 min read