Europe Chart Pack Export growth slowdown looks set to persist After providing a big boost to GDP growth last year, net exports were a drag on growth in the first half of 2018. This does not look like a temporary response to heightened trade tensions. Instead, it... 11th September 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack Soft inflation won’t stop rate rises in Sweden, Norway The latest inflation data in Switzerland and the Nordic economies show that underlying inflation is fairly low. But we doubt that this will stop the Norges Bank or Riksbank from raising interest rates... 16th August 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Consumer slowdown should prove temporary Q2’s slowdown in GDP growth to just 0.3% q/q dealt a blow to hopes that the softness of growth in the first quarter would be a one-off. While no breakdown is available yet, timely data from France and... 7th August 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack A mixed month for financial markets Swiss and Nordic financial markets have been a mixed bag over the past month. Equities in most countries have risen, supported by continued fairly strong economic growth. But equities in Norway and... 24th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Q2 growth set to be healthy, but slower than last year Hard data relating to euro-zone activity in Q2 have been a little disappointing so far, denting hopes that GDP growth would rebound strongly after Q1’s 0.4% quarterly expansion. Industrial production... 5th July 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack Strong start to the year likely to be sustained In contrast to the euro-zone and UK, the Swiss and Nordic economies grew fairly quickly in Q1. Finland was the top performer, with GDP rising by 1.2% on the quarter. Iceland was hot on its heels... 19th June 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Peripheral bond yields rise amid political turmoil Politics have captured the limelight over the past month. Bond yields in Italy have risen sharply over the past few weeks as concerns about debt sustainability and the new government’s commitment to... 7th June 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack Growth slowed in Q1, but Q2 should be better Ahead of Q1 GDP releases over the coming weeks, the official monthly data suggest that growth slowed in Switzerland and the Nordics. Indeed, retail sales in Switzerland increased by 0.6% in Q4 last... 11th May 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Weak Q1 GDP largely due to temporary factors Euro-zone GDP data for Q1 were pretty weak. Indeed, quarterly growth in the euro-zone economy slowed from 0.7% in Q4 to just 0.4%, its weakest rate since Q3 2016. And national data showed that growth... 9th May 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack Trade fears weigh on Swiss franc and Swedish krona Both the Swiss franc and the Swedish krona have depreciated by almost 1.5% against the euro over the past month. This has left the franc trading at its weakest level since the Swiss National Bank... 13th April 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Lending data add to evidence that growth has peaked Euro-zone money and lending growth slowed in February, adding to the evidence from the official data and business surveys that economic growth has peaked. Growth in “narrow” money – which is the sum... 5th April 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack Inflation outturns weak The latest inflation data in the Nordic countries and Switzerland have generally been quite weak. Indeed, inflation in Switzerland slowed to a five-month low of 0.6% in February. The core rate was... 16th March 2018 · 2 mins read
Europe Chart Pack Consumer spending dampened by temporary factors The first breakdown of euro-zone Q4 GDP showed that consumer spending growth slowed to just 0.2%, the weakest rate since Q1 2014. Encouragingly though, this appears to have been due to temporary... 7th March 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack A robust start to 2018 The official data suggest that the Nordic & Swiss economies recorded fairly mixed performances at the end of last year. So far, only Norway has published national accounts data for Q4. This release... 13th February 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Activity surveys strong as equities fall While equity markets in the euro-zone have recently declined alongside those in the US, activity surveys continue to paint a very healthy picture of the economy. Indeed, the euro-zone Composite PMI... 8th February 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack A busy month for central banks The three major Nordic and Swiss central banks met in December and provided very different messages about the outlook for monetary policy in their respective countries. First, the Swiss National Bank... 15th January 2018 · 1 min read