Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swiss Consumer Prices (Mar.) March’s Swiss inflation data do little to alter the picture of extremely subdued price pressures. With the core rate barely positive and inflation expectations very low, we expect the Swiss National... 6th April 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swedish Industrial & Services Production (Feb.) The latest raft of positive Swedish data supports our view that the Riksbank’s extremely accommodative monetary policy is no longer justified – we expect the Bank to stop purchasing assets in June and... 5th April 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Retail Sales (Feb.) February’s retail sales data suggest that consumer spending growth slowed in Q1. That said, high consumer confidence and firms’ strong employment intentions suggest that household spending growth won... 4th April 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Unemployment & PPI (Feb.), Final Man. PMI (Mar.) February’s fall in euro-zone unemployment and the rise in the manufacturing PMI in March supported other evidence that the economy is performing well. But February’s producer prices data confirmed... 3rd April 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Mar.) March’s PMIs point to faster manufacturing growth in Switzerland, Sweden and Norway. They also imply that price pressures are building in Sweden, which we think will force the Riksbank to tighten... 3rd April 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash CPI (Mar.) March’s sharp slowdown in euro-zone inflation was partly driven by temporary factors that will reverse in April, but the big picture is that inflation is now on a downward trend. So we expect the ECB... 31st March 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Ger. & Spa. Retail Sales, French Cons. Spending (Feb.) Today’s expenditure data gave mixed messages on the health of the euro-zone’s consumer sector. While higher inflation does not appear to have hit German consumer spending in Q1, spending growth may... 31st March 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German, Spanish & Belgian Flash CPI (Mar.) March’s declines in headline consumer price inflation in Germany, Spain and Belgium reflected some temporary factors. But the big picture is still that underlying inflation throughout the euro-zone... 30th March 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response EC Business & Consumer Survey (Mar.) Despite edging down in March, the EC Economic Sentiment Indicator suggests that euro-zone growth picked up in Q1. But with consumers’ inflation expectations levelling off recently, talk of tighter... 30th March 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swiss KOF Economic Barometer (Mar.) March’s rise in the Swiss KOF Economic Barometer to a three-and-a-half-year high provided further evidence that the economy made a positive start to 2017. But with inflation still low and persistent... 30th March 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swedish Economic Tendency Survey (Mar.) Despite softening in March, Sweden’s Economic Tendency Indicator still points to a surge in GDP growth. With the survey breakdown suggesting that domestic demand is increasingly driving growth, the... 29th March 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swedish Retail Sales, Trade and PPI (Feb.) While today’s data suggests that Swedish growth may have slowed in Q1, it still looks set to be strong. And as PPI inflation remains high, inflationary pressures appear to be rising and we expect the... 28th March 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German Ifo Survey (Mar.) March’s German Ifo supported other survey evidence that growth is accelerating sharply. The hard data so far paint a less positive picture, but the balance of evidence suggests that German growth this... 27th March 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash PMIs (Mar.) While the euro-zone Composite PMI points to the strongest pace of GDP growth in two years in Q1, there are still fundamental reasons to expect growth to slow in 2017. As such, policymakers will not... 24th March 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Norwegian Labour Force Survey (Jan.) We doubt that the labour market is recovering as quickly as the decline in the Labour Force Survey measure of unemployment suggests. While things are gradually improving, wage growth looks set to... 22nd March 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Industrial Prod. (Jan.) & German ZEW (Mar.) January’s rise in euro-zone industrial production did not reverse December’s fall and, together with earlier retail sales data, suggests that the message from the business surveys that growth gained... 14th March 2017 · 1 min read
