Although underlying activity growth rebounded in the first quarter, while wage and price inflation remained too high, we expect the second quarter to bring a sharper slowdown across the board. GDP data show weaker start to year The first-quarter GDP …
28th April 2023
The Bank of Canada’s Summary of Deliberations suggests it was closer to resuming interest rate hikes in April than we thought. Nonetheless, as the data releases this week showed a fall in the job vacancy rate and point to a contraction in March GDP, it …
The South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Review (MPR), published this week, made it clear that the central bank is increasingly incorporating fiscal risks into its interest rate projections and decision making process. The poor state of the public …
Panic stations in Argentina Developments in Argentina have taken a(nother) turn for the worse over the past couple of weeks. March’s grim inflation print (of 104% y/y) alongside rumours of an imminent devaluation and plans to renegotiate the country’s IMF …
Recession risk receding? Data released today showed that the euro-zone economy grew by 0.1% q/q in Q1. Excluding Ireland, where the data are notoriously volatile, GDP expanded by a slightly stronger 0.2%. But after contracting in Q4, the euro-zone did …
Auto rebound to prove short lived Automotive production across Asia, which was badly hit during the pandemic by a shortage of semiconductor components, is now rebounding rapidly as this constraint unwinds. The surprise q/q expansion in Q1 Korean GDP …
Property policy recalibration The Politburo held its monthly meeting today and, as is usual in April, its focus was the economy. The gist of its statement is one we’d agree with: economic growth in the immediate rebound from zero-COVID weakness “has been …
Decent first quarter likely to be followed by contraction The small rise in GDP in February points to healthy first-quarter growth but, with the preliminary estimate pointing to a contraction in March and activity set to suffer in April due to the federal …
All-property yields have stabilised since the start of the year and alongside continued rental growth, that means total returns were more-or-less flat during Q1. (See Chart 1.) But, while the worst is over, the economy is still set for a mild recession, …
Decent first quarter likely to be followed by contraction The small rise in GDP in February points to a healthy first-quarter growth rate but, with the preliminary estimate pointing to a contraction in March and activity set to suffer in April due to the …
Industry to continue facing headwinds Growth in India’s core infrastructure industries slowed in March, indicating that some of the resilience in the industrial sector at the start of the year may be fading. Domestic and external headwinds mean a …
Strength at start of 2023 unlikely to be sustained The 1.1% q/q rise in Mexican GDP in Q1 marked a pick-up from the end of last year, but a fresh slowdown is on the cards as a recession in the US and tight policy at home will take their toll. The outturn …
Inflation figures suggest 50bp ECB hike next week still likely National inflation figures released today suggest that euro-zone headline and core inflation edged up in April. That adds to the reasons for the ECB to opt for a 50bp hike at its meeting next …
Today’s news on wages and inflation should have eradicated any remaining doubts that the Fed will hike interest rates by an additional 25bp next week. According to the Employment Cost Index (ECI), first-quarter private wages increased by 1.2% q/q, with …
The Bank of England’s Chief Economist, Huw Pill, has come under fire this week after saying that everyone in the UK “needs to accept that they’re worse off and stop trying to maintain their real spending power by bidding up prices whether through higher …
The slowdown in European investment intensified in Q1 as transactions more than halved year-on-year. This was perhaps unsurprising given the ongoing price correction amid one of the sharpest tightenings of financial conditions on record. But, with …
Credit Suisse’s Q1 results, released this week, revealed the scale of the crisis that led to its demise. The two key pieces of data we learnt were that the bank saw deposit outflows of CHF67bn in the quarter and that, at its peak, it borrowed CHF168bn …
CEE edges closer towards monetary easing Central banks across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) provided firmer signs this week that, with inflation now declining , monetary loosening may soon be on the cards. But there are still clearly big concerns that …
In our view, the role of UK pension funds in deterring firms from listing on the London Stock Exchange has been overstated of late. To the extent that higher valuations are the reason firms find a US listing more attractive, we think there is good reason …
Alongside the publication of our Q2 UK Housing Outlook this week, we held a series of roundtable meetings for clients in London. Here we sum up our thoughts on three key questions which recurred throughout the day: What is the biggest risk to our …
Economy expands marginally but domestic demand falling The very small increase in GDP in Q1 means a technical recession has been avoided by a whisker. However, the economy has essentially stalled as domestic demand has been hit hard by the energy shock …
CBR keeps rates on hold, hike still on the table Russia’s central bank maintained its hawkish tone today as it left interest rates unchanged at 7.50% and continued to emphasise pro-inflation risks in the economy. So far these risks do not seem to be …
Taiwan’s GDP contracted sharply in the first quarter of the year, as a slump in exports put the economy into a technical recession. We think the economy will struggle over the coming quarters as weak external demand and a fading reopening boost drag on …
Economy in recession, weak recovery ahead Taiwan’s GDP contracted sharply in the first quarter of the year, as a slump in exports put the economy into a technical recession. We think the economy will struggle over the coming quarters as weak external …
Activity/emissions links to weaken over time The release of our latest China Activity Proxy (CAP) this week showed that the Chinese economy bounced back rapidly in Q1 following the ending of its zero-Covid strategy. Recall that the CAP is our attempt to …
Germany disappoints, while Italy powers ahead National GDP data released so far suggest that it is touch and go whether the euro-zone economy expanded in Q1, though it did avoid a contraction. We expect economic growth to remain very weak in the coming …
Fall in the rupee this year likely to be limited The rupee is up by around 1% against the US dollar so far this year, leaving it in the middle of the pack among other EM currencies. (See Chart 1.) Chart 1: Currencies vs. US$ (% change, YTD) Sources: …
Positive growth in Q1 despite slumping domestic demand The increases in GDP in France and Spain in Q1 bode well for the euro-zone aggregate data to be released later this morning. We suspect that activity in both countries will lose some momentum later …
The Bank of Japan predicted that inflation will fall well below its 2% target in FY2025 when it kept policy settings unchanged today. And while it pledged to conduct a review into its policy measures, the results will only be unveiled next year. The …
RBNZ to relax lending rules On Wednesday, the RBNZ unveiled its proposal to ease Loan-to-Value Ratio (LVR) restrictions on mortgage lending by banks. With house prices now 18% below their January 2022 peak, the RBNZ has judged that threats to financial …
Export downturn not over yet Export volumes rose for the second consecutive month in March and with PMIs in Japan’s main trading partners rebounding, the further fall in export volumes we had pencilled in for Q2 looks increasingly unlikely. We’ve now …
Yield Curve Control here to stay for now The B ank of Japan predicted that inflation will fall well below its 2% target in FY2025 when it kept policy settings unchanged today. And while it pledged to conduct a review into the Bank’s policy measures, the …
Economy may not have shrunk in Q1 The end-month data rush only adds to the dilemma the Bank of Japan is facing. While labour market conditions are now easing in earnest, underlying inflation is set to surpass 4% at the national level. On balance though, …
Resilience in activity won’t last The further rise in industrial production and retail sales in March means that the economy may not have shrunk in Q1 after all, but with recessions in major trading partners looming we still expect GDP growth to be weaker …
Persistent and deepening electricity outages in South Africa are wreaking economic havoc. Almost half of generating capacity was offline this month, triggering severe “loadshedding”. Output in energy-intensive sectors – such as mining and manufacturing – …
27th April 2023
The renminbi surpassed the US dollar to become the most-commonly-used currency in China’s cross-border transactions for the first time last month. Part of the increase – the part that has received plenty of attention – is due to wider adoption of renminbi …
Resilience in much of the global economic data of late has raised questions over whether the recessions we expect in most developed markets (DMs) will materialise later than we had initially thought. As such, we now forecast most “risky” assets will reach …
We think the Bank of Japan will abandon Yield Curve Control at Friday’s meeting Euro-zone GDP probably rose slightly in Q1 (10.00 BST) We expect the Central Bank of Colombia to raise its key policy rate by 25bp (19.00 BST) Key Market Themes We think the …
The housing market will face growing headwinds from tighter credit conditions, slowing income growth and rising unemployment as the economy enters a recession this year. That will offset some of the impact of lower mortgage rates, and means housing market …
We estimate that employment growth continued to trend lower in April, with non-farm payrolls increasing by a more moderate 180,000. That would be the smallest monthly gain in more than two years, but still a healthy enough increase when compared with the …
The global energy market is in the early days of a radical redesign due to the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In this Focus , we introduce our long-term energy market forecasts, which are characterised by continued growth in energy consumption and …
Inflows into EM bond and equity markets have picked up sharply in the past month, with flows into Asian equity markets looking particularly strong. That said, if we right that the dollar will rebound, we suspect that these inflows will drop back. That’s …
Australia and New Zealand Real GDP Growth (%q /q, since 2021 Q1) …
Belgium and Euro-zone Real GDP (Q4 2019 =100) …
Belgium Real GDP Growth (%, quarterly since Q1 2018) …
Luxembourg and Euro-zone Real GDP (Q4 2019 = 100) …
We think disappointing global growth will be a headwind for “risky” assets in developed markets (DMs) during the second half of this year. So far, this month has been a tale of two halves . Over the first part of the month, investors looked like they were …
Economy starts the year on a weaker footing The disappointing 1.1% annualised rise in first-quarter GDP indicates that the economy had less forward momentum at the start of this year than previously thought. We continue to expect the drag from higher …
Sentiment fell further in Q1 The RICS Q1 survey indicated confidence fell further in the opening months of the year but remains substantially above the lows seen during the height of the pandemic. However, we expect sentiment to drop further in the coming …
With Egyptian policymakers dawdling on the IMF’s reform demand, pressure is growing for another devaluation of the pound and investors are increasingly fearing that a sovereign default could follow. For now at least, there is still a path out of the …
