A year ago, we published an in-depth report arguing that the calm prevailing at the time around sovereign debt risks in Latin America wouldn’t last and that public debt dynamics would deteriorate. While there have been some positive stories (Argentina, to …
20th November 2024
South Africa’s activity data for September points to a subdued end to Q3, but we think this softer patch will be short-lived as low inflation and the SARB’s easing cycle provide some support to demand. That said, tight fiscal policy will prevent the …
The jump in euro-zone negotiated wage growth in Q3, to a record high of 5.4%, was mostly due to one-off payments in Germany. Wage growth elsewhere was little changed. With headline inflation around 2% and the labour market loosening, wage growth is very …
The recovery in euro-zone real estate investment has been weak in 2024, with total activity in the first three quarters little changed on 2023’s near-record-lows. However, prospects for 2025 are brighter. We think investment will rise 25% y/y as interest …
China’s green export volumes rose in October and were just 3% shy of the record high reached in August. Chinese battery makers could be hit hard by President-elect Trump’s tariff proposals. But the surge in battery exports following the announcement of a …
Sharp drop in inflation sets the stage for 25bp cut tomorrow The drop in South Africa’s headline inflation, to 2.8% y/y, in October, will make it harder for the SARB to strike a hawkish tone regarding inflation pressures at its monetary policy committee …
Policy easing to resume in the second half of next year Bank Indonesia today left interest rates on hold at 6.00%, and we don’t think it will be until the second half of next year that the central bank resumes its easing cycle. The decision was broadly …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Surprisingly big rebound suggests BoE will leave rates at 4.75% in December October’s surprisingly large rebound in CPI inflation from 1.7% to 2.3% (CE 2.1%, consensus & BoE …
We expect the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to cut its policy rate by 50bp, to 4.25%, at its meeting next week. With inflation back at target, the labour market loosening rapidly and activity in the doldrums, there continues to be a compelling case for the …
Artificial intelligence (AI) is still not being used very widely outside of the ICT sector. But we remain confident that, in time, it has the potential to be used across all sectors and industries. Surveys of firms in the US and EU show that AI usage is …
19th November 2024
Our senior economists hosted an online briefing to discuss the final Fed, ECB and Bank of England decisions of 2024. During the session they highlighted key takeaways from the latest communications and addressed key issues, including: What inflation and …
New immigration targets threaten nascent recovery Lower mortgage rates appear to be finally sparking a recovery in the housing market, with home sales soaring to a two-and-a-half-year high last month and the sales-to-new listing ratio now pointing to …
How will Donald Trump’s programme for government shape the outlook for growth and inflation in the US and beyond? Is the world facing a new and even more dangerous trade war in 2025? And how will financial markets respond with the US under new – and …
We doubt upward pressure on Japan’s long-term bond yields will persist for long, as the Bank of Japan tightens policy by less than investors anticipate and yields in the US remain quite stable. The 10-year JGB yield has risen a lot since October. Despite …
Services inflation in the euro-zone has been stuck around 4% for the past 12 months, but there are good reasons to expect it to decline significantly next year. We think that core inflation will continue to edge down in 2025 and the headline rate will …
The latest data suggest that Colombia and Chile underperformed Peru’s economy in Q3. Looking ahead, we think that lower prices for key commodity exports combined with relatively tight fiscal stances will offset any the favourable effect from looser …
Recession not enough for MNB to resume easing The Hungarian central bank (MNB) left its base rate on hold again today, at 6.50%, despite the economy having just fallen back into recession. We think that the easing cycle will remain on pause over the next …
Upside surprise not only due to property tax update With headline inflation still at target and given the Bank’s recent emphasis on the need to ensure that GDP growth and the labour market pick up again, the upside surprise to core inflation in October …
The larger and faster pace of ECB rate cuts we now expect means euro-zone government bond yields are likely to be lower in the coming years than previously forecast. This is positive for property valuations and means property yields could fall by more in …
Higher US interest rates will probably continue to weigh on government bonds globally. But we still expect bond yields in most developed market (DM) economies to fall back by the end of 2025, as domestic monetary policy eases further. Sovereign yields …
Starts hit by hurricanes The decline in housing starts in October was exactly as we had expected given the hit to construction in the South from recent hurricanes and should partially reverse in November. Beyond this, we think the recent rebound in new …
While we expect the RBNZ to cut interest rates by the most since the GFC over the coming year, housing affordability was never as stretched at the start of an easing cycle as it was at the start of the current one. Accordingly, we only expect house prices …
RBA still in “wait and watch” mode With the RBA maintaining its neutral stance, we’re sticking to our view that the Bank won’t begin cutting rates before Q2 2025. The minutes of the RBA’s November meeting confirmed that the decision to leaves interest …
The China Activity Proxy (CAP) is our attempt to track the pace of economic growth in China without relying on the official GDP figures. It is based on a set of carefully selected low-profile indicators that capture activity across a broad spectrum of the …
Although last week’s pull-back in the S&P 500 coincided with a big increase in the 10-year TIPS yield, we don’t think this marks the start of prolonged period of weakness in US equities driven by government bonds. Our view is that the S&P 500 will resume …
18th November 2024
In response to Donald Trump’s election win and the likelihood that his policies will be inflationary, we have revised up our forecast for the terminal fed funds target range in 2025 by 50bp, to between 3.50% and 3.75%. There are, if anything, still some …
The recent downturn in US commercial property has piqued investor interest in alternatives as they look to diversify. With an aging population, senior housing has a clear long run structural demand driver pointing to further growth in the sector. Our …
We think that the euro will fall to parity against the US dollar next year but will strengthen against some other currencies, such as the renminbi, and on a trade-weighted basis we forecast it to be little changed. So the effect of FX moves on growth and …
US President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to curb immigration and undertake a mass deportation of undocumented migrants could boost labour supply in countries that are the source of migrants. But there could be social and fiscal costs, as well as lower …
I was visiting clients in the US last week, where the mood felt very different from Trump’s first election victory in 2016 (and when, incidentally, I was living and working in New York). Then, the overriding mood was one of shock. Today, there is less …
Economic growth in Thailand accelerated in Q3 and we think the boost from loose fiscal policy will support growth in the coming quarters and help offset a slowdown in the tourism sector. The 1.2% q/q rise in Q3 GDP, following the 0.8% increase in Q2, was …
A plunge in the average household size kept housing demand strong during the pandemic even as population growth ground to a halt. RBA estimates suggest that the average household size has remained low ever since, but economic forces point to a rebound. …
Group Chief Economist Neil Shearing hops off the plane from New York and hops onto the latest episode of The Weekly Briefing from Capital Economics to explain what Donald Trump’s cabinet nominations signal about the macro policy outlook, how Europe and …
15th November 2024
The US dollar continues to build on its post-election rally, with the DXY index now at its highest level in more than a year. While a period of consolidation looks likely in the near term given the extent and speed of the greenback’s rally since late …
Rand hit by Trump trade, falling commodity prices The recent weakness of the South African rand is a symptom of the “Trump trade”, but sharp falls in some of South Africa key commodity exports also appear to have played a role. We expect the currency to …
Road to 2% inflation a bumpy one The hotter-than-expected October price data serve as a reminder that the Fed’s fight against inflation is not over. Based on the CPI, PPI and import price data, we estimate that the Fed’s preferred core PCE deflator price …
The US election outcome means that Canada and the US will not be trading friendship bracelets anytime soon and leaves the risks to inflation more finely balanced, but we still think that growth concerns will prompt the Bank of C anada to cut the policy …
US President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominations announced over the past week give us a guide to how his policies will affect Latin America. The fact many of his choices, including Kristi Noem (Homeland Security secretary) and Thomas Homan (“border …
European natural gas prices have trended higher this year and are likely to fluctuate around €40-45 per MWh until conditions in the global LNG market loosen. That said, prices will drop back meaningfully once the wave of LNG supply arrives, with a good …
Yet another week of disappointing activity data … The Q3 GDP data released out of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) this week has only added to concerns about the health of the region’s economies. Poland’s economy contracted by 0.2% q/q , while GDP …
Today’s GDP release, which confirmed that the economy has barely grown at all since March, is clearly a blow for the government given its pledge to secure the “highest sustained growth in the G7”. This means that while the UK has now surpassed Japan and …
New currency forecast and policy implications We have finalised our financial market forecasts following Donald Trump’s election victory. In short, we think US Treasury yields will remain elevated over the coming year (we previously anticipated falls) …
Temporary disruptions weigh on production again The fall in manufacturing output in October was driven mainly by temporary disruptions which should soon reverse. Excluding these disruptions, industrial production would have remained unchanged, suggesting …
Manufacturing sales weak, but tentative signs of a recovery Despite the 0.4% m/m decline in manufacturing sales volumes in September, the data still appear consistent with the flash estimate that GDP rose by 0.3% that month. Although manufacturing has …
Déjà vu for industrial metals While it is uncertain exactly how Trump will approach tariffs during a second term, China will clearly be in the firing line and commodities could be caught in the crossfire. For context, Chart 1 shows the US’s bilateral …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Underlying sales growth slowing to a more sustainable pace While October’s retail sales data showed underlying weakness and were accompanied by sizable revisions to previous …
