Europe Economics Weekly Banking worries continue to weigh on the periphery The recent slide in the euro and rise in peripheral bond yields appears to reflect renewed concerns about the health of the region’s banks. These concerns may only subside once the peripheral... 13th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Italian GDP (Q2), Italian & French Industrial Production (Jul.) Q2’s Italian GDP figures confirmed that Italy continued to expand at a pretty healthy pace last quarter. But we think that the recovery may already have run its course and that there is a strong... 10th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Belgian political stalemate increases debt concerns Recent developments are not easing the concerns that we have previously raised over Belgium being the Greece of the North. While the Belgian economy is growing healthily, the current political crisis... 8th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Greece's fiscal headwinds gather strength With Greece likely to receive its second tranche of loans from the euro-zone and IMF next week, the Government will be able to meet its financing needs for the next few months. But Q2’s dreadful GDP... 8th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German Industrial Production & Trade & Spanish Ind. Prod. (Jul.) The latest German industrial and trade data add to evidence that the recoveries in these sectors are beginning to lose momentum. Nonetheless, Germany looks set to remain the euro-zone’s main engine of... 8th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Interest rate rises unlikely to dampen Swedish property recovery The latest rise in Swedish interest rates may raise concerns that the nascent commercial property market recovery could slow. But that seems unlikely. For one thing, interest rates are still very low... 8th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly IMF too sanguine about the risk of a sovereign default Last week, the IMF published a note outlining why it believes that a government default in the advanced world is “unnecessary, undesirable and unlikely”. While the note makes several valid points, we... 6th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Has the Spanish retail property market outlook improved? The increase in Spanish household spending in the first half of 2010 suggests that the outlook for Spanish retail property may be improving. However, we remain cautious. Among other things, with one... 3rd September 2010 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Swedish Riksbank continues to strike an upbeat tone The Swedish Riksbank’s decision to raise interest rates for a second meeting running reflects concerns that domestic imbalances may be building. Further hikes seem likely in the near term, but the... 2nd September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update ECB more upbeat, but maintains policy support While the ECB struck a slightly more upbeat tone towards the economy at today’s press conference, it nonetheless maintained its support for the region’s banking sector and remains a long way from... 2nd September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone GDP (Q2) The second release relating to Q2 euro-zone GDP gives a fairly encouraging picture, but does not alter our view that the recovery will soon falter. 2nd September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Swedish Riksbank continues to strike an upbeat tone The Swedish Riksbank’s decision to raise interest rates for a second meeting running reflects concerns that domestic imbalances may be building. Further hikes seem likely in the near term, but the... 2nd September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Swiss GDP (Q2) Q2’s GDP release confirmed that the Swiss economy is still performing very well. However, the breakdown of growth cast doubts over whether the recent pace of expansion can be maintained over the... 2nd September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Economic divergences widen yield spreads Q2’s 1.0% quarterly rise in euro-zone GDP confirmed that the region as a whole performed well by international standards last quarter. But Q2’s growth surge was largely down to a huge 2.2% quarterly... 1st September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Time to be more positive on German retail property? Recent economic data suggest that the export-led recovery in Germany is spreading to domestic demand. However, there are reasons to remain cautious and our view remains that the scope for the German... 1st September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash CPI (Aug.) & Unemployment (Jul.) August’s small fall in euro-zone CPI inflation confirmed that price pressures in the region are very subdued. And although unemployment has continued to edge down, this is unlikely to prompt any... 31st August 2010 · 1 min read
