Africa Economic Outlook Home-grown and external headwinds to slow growth Sub-Saharan Africa is set to record its weakest growth this year, outside of the pandemic, since 2016 as the drags from domestic headwinds are exacerbated by a less favourable external environment... 13th June 2023 · 3 mins read
Commodities Chart Pack Investor pessimism may be running too deep Most commodity prices have moved lower over the past month as concerns about demand loomed large and the US dollar strengthened. We think that prices will continue to struggle over the next few months... 7th June 2023 · 13 mins read
Commodities Weekly Data and debt ceiling to move prices next week Commodity prices generally fell this week, as investors’ expectations for the Federal Reserve’s policy rate rose on concern about the persistence of high inflation. The dollar also strengthened... 26th May 2023 · 6 mins read
Commodities Weekly US data the key driver of prices next week Dealmaking was a major driver of commodity prices this week. The 11th hour extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative alleviated fears of Ukraine’s grain exports being cut off from world markets... 19th May 2023 · 6 mins read
Commodities Chart Pack Demand concerns a lingering headwind for prices Most commodity prices have moved lower over the past month as concerns about demand have intensified and risk appetite has soured. We think prices will continue to struggle over the next few months as... 16th May 2023 · 13 mins read
Commodities Weekly Weak demand will weigh on prices for some time The demand backdrop for commodities appears weak. While oil prices rose this week, they remain low by recent standards at $70-75 per barrel. Industrial metal prices, which rallied late last year and... 12th May 2023 · 6 mins read
Commodities Weekly Commodities are likely to struggle for a while Most commodity prices, but especially energy and industrial metals, fell this week. Concern about demand in advanced economies, particularly in the US due to the banking sector problems, contributed... 5th May 2023 · 6 mins read
Commodities Weekly Demand concerns back on the menu Commodity prices generally fell earlier this week on the back of investors’ growing concerns about the outlook for commodities demand. Later in the week, the release of softer-than-expected US Q1 GDP... 28th April 2023 · 6 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Financial markets bruised, central banks hawkish Financial markets across Sub-Saharan Africa have struggled – and have underperformed their EM peers – since the global banking sector turmoil erupted. Amid broad risk-off sentiment, African sovereign... 23rd March 2023 · 10 mins read
Commodities Weekly Prices battered, financial conditions to be in focus Commodity markets were not spared the effects of widespread turmoil in the global banking system. Most prices ended the week lower as investors fled risky assets. The gold and silver prices bucked... 17th March 2023 · 6 mins read
Commodities Weekly US and China data to steer prices next week Even though US non-farm payrolls increased by 311,000 in February, the report contained signals that were consistent with slowing inflation, prompting a fall in US interest rate expectations today... 10th March 2023 · 6 mins read
Commodities Weekly Commodity markets look to the US and China It was another fairly quiet week in commodity markets, with prices caught between diverging narratives. Rather perversely, robust economic data in advanced economies weighed on commodity prices. This... 3rd March 2023 · 6 mins read
Commodities Weekly Russian petroleum product exports to struggle The EU’s ban on imports of Russian petroleum products will come into force on Sunday, which could raise EU fuel prices and weigh on Russia’s product exports. However, we suspect Russia will offer... 3rd February 2023 · 6 mins read
Commodities Weekly Commodity prices poised to take a breather After rising sharply for much of this year, the Lunar New Year holiday in China meant that commodity prices generally took a bit of a pause this week. The only exceptions were natural gas prices... 27th January 2023 · 6 mins read
Commodities Weekly Spotlight shifts to developed economies The end of China’s zero-COVID policy continued to support most commodity prices this week, with many industrial metals prices extending their recent rallies. Economic activity appears to be recovering... 20th January 2023 · 6 mins read
Commodities Weekly China reopening to boost commodity prices The dismantling of China’s zero-COVID policy has come quicker than we and many had expected. Whereas we previously thought the first quarter would bring the worst of the economic disruption from... 13th January 2023 · 6 mins read