We don’t think US equity market outperformance is over yet, despite the challenge from DeepSeek. The tone in US equity markets has turned more positive lately, with a modest gain on Thursday and futures pointing (at the time of writing) to another in …
31st January 2025
This new Interactive Markets Chart Pack combines our previous Global Markets, Asset Allocation, and FX Markets Chart Packs to give you a more comprehensive and timely view of the latest developments in financial markets, and how we expect them to perform …
Pakistan: easing to be more gradual from here The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) lowered its policy rate earlier this week by a further 100bps (to 12.0%), the sixth consecutive meeting at which rates were lowered. However, the accompanying statement makes …
Euro-zone inflation easing in January National and state level inflation data published so far suggest that euro-zone inflation may come in a bit lower than anticipated. (Euro-zone data due on Monday 3 rd February). This would support those on the ECB …
Trump 2.0 and India Prime Minister Modi and US President Donald Trump this week spoke for the first time since Trump’s inauguration. Details of the call are scant, but the talks appear to have been relatively conciliatory – PM Modi referred to Trump as …
The Year of the Snake begins with China’s domestic economy still struggling to gain its footing, even as its booming export sector faces another increase in US tariffs. And now one of its homegrown LLMs appears to be posing a direct challenge to American …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Higher mortgage rates starting to weigh on prices, but it won’t last Although the muted 0.1% m/m rise in Nationwide house prices in January was slightly worse than expected …
BoJ may need to lift inflation forecasts further The economic data released this week support our non-consensus view that the Bank will deliver two more 25bp rate hikes this year. For a start, two out of the three measures of underlying inflation the Bank …
We still expect a shallow easing cycle Over the past few weeks, we’ve been flagging the risk that the Reserve Bank of Australia would loosen policy settings sooner rather than later. With CPI data released this week surprising materially to the downside, …
Conditions for further tightening remain in place The end-month data rush vindicates the Bank’s decision to lift its policy rate last week and suggests that further tightening over the coming months is likely. Taking the activity data first, the 0.3% m/m …
DeepSeek’s success in developing AI models that rival those of US tech-giants has rattled US markets. While this does suggest that catching up to the technological frontier in AI may be easier than many expected, it is not a sign that China is overtaking …
30th January 2025
Even though we forecast the 10-year Treasury yield to end 2025 close to its current level, we anticipate that the 10-year Bund yield will fall over the rest of the year as the ECB, unlike the Fed, cuts policy rates further than currently discounted in the …
The Trump administration’s pausing of US aid is a big headwind for many conflict-ridden economies (including Syria and Ukraine) as well as parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, but is unlikely to move the macro needle for most EMs. The potentially bigger …
Concerns about the impact of the Budget, coupled with higher interest rates, led to a moderation in commercial property demand according to the Q4 RICS commercial survey. Capital value expectations also declined and a dip in investment enquiries points to …
The Q4 RICS commercial property survey saw investment sentiment turn positive for the first time since 2022 and a shift in perceptions of cycle phase, with the majority now believing we have reached the bottom or already in an early upturn. At the sector …
Will OPEC+ heed Trump’s calls on oil output? Last Thursday’s comments from President Trump for OPEC+ to reduce the cost of oil has put some downward pressure on prices in the past week. OPEC+ is unlikely to change its existing plans for oil output (to …
January’s EC survey points to continued weak GDP growth at best. While it also suggests that there are some upside risks to inflation in the near term, firms’ employment expectations and labour shortages are easing which should help to bring down services …
We forecast a 170,000 gain in non-farm payrolls in January, which would mark a slight acceleration from the recent average if we are right in assuming that there will be downward revision to past payrolls figures. Meanwhile, we think the unemployment rate …
Farewell to Trudeau and his carbon tax Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's departure from office is likely to be swiftly followed by the removal of his Liberal party's signature 2019 federal carbon tax. With their "axe the tax" slogan, Canada's Conservatives …
It’s clear that after cutting its deposit rate from 3% to 2.75% today, the ECB expects to reduce rates further in the coming months. We think that weak growth and inflation will mean that the Bank has to lower interest rates further than most investors …
The South African Reserve Bank decision to cut its repo rate by 25bp, to 7.50%, was widely expected but Governor Kganyago was more hawkish than anticipated, citing concern about US tariff threats and the prospects of the rand weakening further. On the …
The latest RICS survey showed further improvement in occupier and investor demand in Europe. However, with the uptick in sentiment only small, the market looks to be struggling to gain momentum, supporting our view that the recovery in capital values this …
Underlying economic growth remains solid The 2.3% annualised gain in fourth-quarter GDP was a little weaker than the consensus estimate at 2.6%, but expectations would have come down a little after the December advance economic indicators showed a big …
Bank to cut interest rates by 25bps at February’s meeting, from 4.75% to 4.50% The tail risks of both faster disinflation and slower disinflation have increased Rate cuts to stay gradual, but rates to fall to 3.50% in 2026 versus market pricing of 4.00% …
ECB has much further to go The ECB’s decision to cut its deposit rate from 3% to 2.75% today came as no surprise and the accompanying statement implies that more cuts are coming, as is widely anticipated. We think the Bank will have to lower interest …
GDP collapse argues for larger 50bp cut The much larger-than-expected 0.6% q/q drop in Mexico’s GDP in Q4 is likely to strengthen the argument for a 50bp interest rate cut, to 9.50%, at next week’s Banxico meeting. That now looks like the most likely …
The Bank of England meets for its first rate decision of 2025 against a backdrop of softening activity data, but also amid signs that inflation is still too-hot-for-comfort. Which way will the Monetary Policy Committee fall at its February meeting? How …
Asia Chart Pack (January 2025) …
Weak economy means ECB will keep cutting The stagnation in euro-zone GDP in Q4 supports our view that the region’s economic prospects are worse than most think. We expect this to prompt the ECB to cut interest rates by more this year than is discounted in …
Net lending to property records strongest year since 2008 Net lending to property had a strong end to 2024, with the total of £1.28bn in December the highest since September. At £11.5bn for the year, commercial property net lending had its strongest year …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Downbeat outlook isn’t heavily weighing on households’ financial decisions December’s money and lending figures suggest the downbeat economic outlook isn’t weighing on households …
Signs of improvement, but growth still likely to underwhelm in 2025 GDP data released out of Hungary and Poland today were broadly in line with expectations and suggest that both their economies returned to positive growth at the end of last year, but we …
Germany, France and Italy all weighing on euro-zone growth With national data now available for all larger euro-zone countries, it looks as if GDP growth in the region slowed to 0.1% q/q or even zero in Q4 last year. (Euro-zone GDP data are out at 10.00 …
Africa Chart Pack (Jan. 2025) …
A softer end to 2024 Saudi Arabia’s flash estimate of GDP showed that the economy grew by just 0.3% q/q in the final quarter of 2024, marking the slowest rate of expansion in a year. We think GDP growth will accelerate this year as oil output cuts are …
Interest rate cuts to support growth in 2025 GDP growth in the Philippines picked up slightly in the final quarter of last year, and we expect decent growth in 2025 as interest rate cuts help offset the drag from weaker exports and tighter fiscal policy. …
Copom sticks to its promise Brazil’s central bank delivered on its pledge to deliver another 100bp hike to the Selic rate, to 13.25%, and another 100bp increase at March’s Copom meeting is all but certain. For now, we are sticking with our view that that …
29th January 2025
Fed moves to the sidelines The Fed left its key policy rate unchanged at between 4.25% and 4.50% today and the accompanying statement suggests the FOMC is happy to remain on the sidelines, as it awaits more clarity on the potentially stagflationary mix of …
Fed moves to the sidelines The Fed left its key policy rate unchanged at between 4.25% and 4.50% and the accompanying statement suggests the FOMC is happy to remain on the sidelines, as it awaits more clarity on the potentially stagflationary mix of …
While there has not been much market reaction to the speech that UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered today on how to “kickstart economic growth” , we are still quite optimistic about the long-term prospects for UK equities. Some of the key announcements …
How will Donald Trump’s return affect the US commercial real estate landscape? During a recent online client briefing, our economists highlighted the key risks that could test our assumptions for returns in 2025. Here are some of the critical risks to …
Overview – Inflation has proved somewhat stickier than we had anticipated, but the outlook of lacklustre growth, softening labour markets, normalising supply conditions and falling energy costs is consistent with further falls to come. Tariffs are a fly …
With the economy doing better recently, the Bank of Canada’s decision to cut by 25bp today might have been a closer call were it not for the looming threat of tariffs. Admittedly, the Bank hinted that it might have to refrain from providing more policy …
March 6 will mark one year since Egypt embarked on a dramatic shift back to orthodox policymaking. So far, the authorities have stuck to most of their pledges. But has enough been done to deliver strong and sustained growth? Which areas still require …
This is a revamped version of our quarterly Financial Risk Monitor to include commentary and analysis of our latest EM risk indicators. Currency risks remain low, but fiscal vulnerabilities continue to lurk Financial vulnerabilities remained near …
The latest investment figures suggest an upturn in industrial activity after a long slump. But given both stretched valuations and continued economic uncertainty, it may be too early to rule out a relapse in the next couple of quarters, while any recovery …
