Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash PMIs (Jun.) June’s rise in the euro-zone PMI provides some reassurance that the softness recorded so far in 2018 is not the start of a sustained downturn, and that the pace of GDP growth will remain fairly... 22nd June 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Greek deal essentially a restatement of old fudges The Eurogroup seems set to agree the payment of Greece’s final loan tranche tomorrow and to offer a cash buffer to help it through the early months after it exits its bailout in August. But mooted... 20th June 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Could the ECB still hike if the Fed started cutting? We expect the ECB to start raising interest rates in September 2019, not long before we judge that the US Fed will start to cut. Such divergence between the two central banks would be almost... 18th June 2018 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Will Fed and ECB policy keep driving dollar/euro? The movements in dollar/euro over the past few days are a reminder that Fed and ECB policy are still important drivers of the exchange rate. Our view remains that their policies will provide ongoing... 15th June 2018 · 1 min read
ECB Watch ECB to announce taper despite Italy fears Despite worries about Italy’s new Government, we suspect that the ECB will announce after its meeting on 14th June that it will end its asset purchases this year. It might also strengthen its guidance... 7th June 2018 · 1 min read
Global Central Bank Watch Geopolitics more likely to affect ECB than the Fed For now, we don’t expect the geopolitical developments to alter the behaviour of the major central banks. Provided that the political crisis in Italy does not flare up again, we think the ECB is... 1st June 2018 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Banks outside the euro-zone not too exposed to Italy The direct exposure to Italy of banks located outside the euro-zone is small compared to that of their peers based in other euro-zone countries. This offers some reassurance that any fallout from... 31st May 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone GDP (Q1), IP (Mar.) & German ZEW (May) We think that the slowdown in euro-zone GDP growth in Q1 largely reflected temporary effects. So we remain optimistic that the economy will perform better over the rest of the year. 15th May 2018 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Banks continue to relax lending standards In March, broad money growth slowed a bit in the euro-zone, UK and Japan. Indeed, in the euro-zone it dropped to its slowest rate since the ECB started its Asset Purchase Programme in early 2015... 11th May 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Did the euro-zone catch a cold in Q1? We think that temporary factors – including industrial action, cold weather and an outbreak of the flu – explain about 0.2 percentage points of the slowdown in quarterly euro-zone GDP growth from 0.7%... 4th May 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Retail Sales (Mar.) & Final PMIs (Apr.) March’s euro-zone retail sales data suggest that consumer spending had a weak first quarter. And April’s Composite PMI implies that the pace of GDP growth is unlikely to fully rebound after a slow Q1... 4th May 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update How big is the threat of zombie malls in Europe? Dire predictions for US shopping centre closures appear relatively well-founded. However, for a variety of reasons – including more defensive lease terms, lower stock per capita and tighter planning... 3rd May 2018 · 6 mins read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash CPI (Apr.) & PPI (Mar.) April’s unexpected fall in inflation partly reflected Easter timing effects, providing some hope that it will prove temporary. But with underlying price pressures subdued, the ECB will continue to... 3rd May 2018 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update How will the end of ECB QE affect bond yields? We think that after the ECB has ended its asset purchases, bond yields will generally rise only slowly. The biggest increases are likely to come in the periphery, with Italy most at risk of a sharp... 2nd May 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone GDP (Q1) & Unemployment (Mar.) Temporary factors explain some of the slowdown in euro-zone GDP growth in Q1. We doubt that the economy will regain all of its lost momentum, but surveys suggest that growth will pick back up. 2nd May 2018 · 1 min read
Global Central Bank Watch Three more Fed hikes this year, ECB and BoJ on hold Despite economic activity slowing in Q1, we expect the Fed to press on with three more rate hikes this year, not least because inflation has been higher than anticipated in recent months. But in the... 30th April 2018 · 1 min read
