Persistently high mortgage rates cause prices to stagnate Despite a small increase in the Nationwide house price index in May, the big picture is that the slight rise in mortgage rates since the start of the year has caused house prices to stagnate. The …
31st May 2024
Will PM Modi secure another majority? Voting in India’s seven-week election extravaganza ends tomorrow, and results are due to be announced on Tuesday 4 th June. Clients can see all of our election insights here . We will also be discussing the election …
Fertility rate may have fallen to fresh lows According to some estimates , Japan’s fertility rate fell from 1.26 in 2022 to 1.21 last year. Although higher than in some other Asian economies, for Japan this would still be a fresh record low. (See Chart …
Disinflation stalling The economic data released this week once again highlighted the dilemma the Reserve Bank of Australia finds itself in. On the one hand, the April Monthly CPI Indicator showed the second consecutive rise in both headline and trimmed …
This report was first published on Friday 31st May covering the official PMIs. We added commentary on the Caixin manufacturing PMI on Monday 3rd June and the Caixin services and composite PMIs on Wednesday 5th June. Recovery still ongoing The PMIs for May …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. GDP should rebound this quarter On balance, the modest decline in industrial production and the rebound in retail sales in April point to a decent rebound in GDP this quarter. …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Slowdown in underlying inflation has further to run May’s rebound in inflation in Tokyo largely reflects a jump in electricity inflation that has further to run, but underlying …
The early results from South Africa’s general election suggest that the African National Congress (ANC) will fall short of securing a majority, and may be forced into forming a coalition with the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA), or either (or both) …
30th May 2024
Stick or twist for OPEC+ Oil markets are gearing up for Sunday’s OPEC+ meeting which looks set to be a close call on how the group decides to take forward oil policy. OPEC+ has reduced its oil output by 3.2mn bpd since October 2022, but oil prices have …
Overview – Capital values for most property sectors are now close to bottoming out, but with yields set for a period of stability the recovery will be modest by past standards. We expect all-property total returns to average 7.5% p.a. over 2024-28. That’s …
The stronger than expected Q1 GDP data in several major economies suggest that the global economy got off to a strong start in 2024. But we expect global growth to fall back to a slightly below-trend pace in the next few quarters, as China’s fiscal …
China’s economy is expanding at a decent pace, with the manufacturing sector a key source of strength. The country has been increasing its global export market share, and it is unlikely that Biden’s new tariffs will do much to erode recent gains. A …
How important are elections for the trajectory of economies? The latest episode of The Weekly Briefing from Capital Economics explains why the just-announced general election may not be hugely consequential for the UK economy, but also why South Africa’s …
Our China Activity Proxy suggests that economic momentum remains reasonably robust, fuelled by continued gains in manufacturing and a further recovery in services activity. A step-up in fiscal support and new property support measures may continue to …
Headline inflation across most of Emerging Asia is now either below or only slightly above central bank targets. Nevertheless, policymakers have struck a slightly more hawkish tone recently due to concerns about currency weakness. But we think that weaker …
Labour market gradually cooling We forecast another 175,000 gain in non-farm payrolls in May, with the unemployment rate expected to be unchanged at 3.9%. Wage growth should be unchanged at a muted 3.9%. Healthcare job surge to continue The more modest …
During the coming months, we expect falling goods and energy inflation to pull down the headline inflation rate in Sweden. This should encourage policymakers to cut rates from 3.75% currently to 3.00% by the end of the year. However, we are not pencilling …
We suspect that monthly core price growth will accelerate marginally from the very soft rates seen in the first four months of the year but, on the whole, core price pressures should remain muted. That sets the stage for both core and headline inflation …
Rates on hold, SARB to keep a close eye on election results The South African Reserve Bank’s decision to leave the repo rate unchanged at 8.25% was never in doubt. Governor Kganyago said as little about the election as was possible, but the MPC will be …
Repo rate on hold at 6.50% next week, but MPC to drop its hawkish policy stance That should set the stage for an August rate cut We think rate cuts will be a bit more aggressive this year than consensus forecasts The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will …
After steep falls in values and with interest rates set to fall back, ingredients are in place for a recovery in the UK commercial property market. But have values really bottomed out, and which sectors are likely to see the strongest returns as rates …
Recovery in regional sentiment takes a breather The European Commission's Economic Sentiment Indicators for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) were a mixed bag in May and our regional-weighted measure edged down slightly. Even so, that still leaves …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. EC Survey points to weak economic growth and easing price pressures The EC business and consumer survey for May is consistent with weak growth in euro-zone GDP, while price …
Early signs point to low ANC vote, rand on the backfoot The early results from South Africa’s election which took place yesterday point to the ruling ANC securing a vote share closer to the low end of projections (at just over 40%), increasing the chances …
We expect the 10-year Bund yield to fall by the end of the year as the ECB loosens policy more than investors are currently discounting. Judging by the initial fall in 10-year Bund yield this morning, German state-level inflation data released earlier in …
29th May 2024
The stickiness of inflation in April has led us to shift back our forecast for the timing of the first interest rate cut from 5.25% from June to August. Even so, our view that CPI inflation will fall from 2.3% in April to below 1.5% by the end of this …
Sovereign bond yields in Russia have surged to multi-year highs this year as markets have increasingly questioned the trade-off between the war effort on the one hand and policymakers’ ability to maintain fiscal stability and control inflation on the …
Following the previous large quarterly increase, improvement in all-property valuations stalled in the first quarter of the year despite a rise in the 10-year Treasury yield. There was little change at the sector level. Industrial continued to look …
Pieces almost in place for the Bank of Canada to cut But economic and labour market resilience means Bank can wait to be 100% sure Rates to be cut by 25 bp at each meeting from July, faster than markets pricing in The rapid easing in core inflation …
A victory for Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico’s election on Sunday is likely to see a continuation of Amlo’s generous social policies – which will also make Banxico’s fight against inflation harder. The main points of contrast with Amlo are that she will face …
While German property yields stabilised in Q1, further indications of rising distress give us confidence in our view that property values there have not yet reached the bottom. The stabilisation in German prime all-property yields in Q1 has led some to …
We think the Fed and most other DM central banks will be able to ease monetary policy this year and next more than investors currently anticipate. As a result, we forecast that Treasury yields will end 2024 below their current levels, putting downward …
The latest IPF Consensus Survey showed limited change on the previous forecast round in March. There was a small upward revision to all-property rental growth expectations for 2024, but a downgrade to total return expectations, which implies yields are …
The tick up in mortgage rates since the start of the year has caused demand to soften. As a result, house prices are likely to tread water over the coming months. But our forecast that Bank Rate will be eventually be cut further than expected suggests …
German state data point to smaller-than-expected rise in euro-zone inflation CPI inflation data published by the major German states this morning suggest that both German and euro-zone HICP inflation may come in a bit lower than expected and that though …
Low oil output in the Gulf has constrained economic growth so far this year and the upcoming OPEC+ meeting will prove pivotal to the outlook over the rest of this year. Elsewhere in Middle East and North Africa, external financial support has mostly …
Stalling disinflation means rates will remain higher for longer While inflation picked up further in April, we doubt that the Reserve Bank of Australia will respond with another interest rate hike. The 3.6% increase in the Monthly CPI Indicator was …
Africa Chart Pack (May. 2024) …
28th May 2024
The yield of 10-year Japanese government bonds (JGBs) is now almost where we forecast it to be at the end of the year. Admittedly, we doubt that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will tighten policy as quickly as investors think in the next two years. But we …
While the timing of the sharp hit to UK commercial real estate values owes much to the ill-fated “mini-Budget” of September 2022, we think the UK’s role in leading the valuation downgrades also owes to its relatively insulated lending market in this …
House prices March on The solid 0.3% m/m rise in house prices in March suggests that competition among buyers for the limited number of second-hand homes on the market remains strong. We expect that to continue for the rest of the year, consistent with …
Fall in inflation means rate cut in June still in play The decline in Brazilian inflation to 3.7% y/y in the first half of this month, coupled with signs of easing price pressures in some core categories, will provide relief to policymakers at the central …
The debt-to-income restrictions launched by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand today won’t restrict the flow of new mortgage lending. In fact, the concurrent easing of restrictions on loan-to-value restrictions will result in slightly looser lending …
Labor’s regulatory push can’t be blamed for the recent slump in labour productivity and we aren’t convinced that it will hold back future productivity growth much either. Indeed, we still think that a boost from artificial intelligence will lift growth …
Falling real consumption will help to reduce inflation The weakness in retail sales is consistent with our view that inflation will reach the top end of the RBA’s 2-3% target band in the second half of the year. The 0.1% m/m rise in retail sales values in …
The dollar looks set to end the week broadly unchanged against most currencies, halting its slide over the past couple of weeks. Bond yields in the US rebounded this week, partly due to the Fed minutes published on Wednesday but have also risen in other …
24th May 2024
We doubt yesterday’s drop in the US equity market will prove a harbinger of further weakness to come – indeed, stocks have already rebounded today. But the unusual combination of a sizeable drop in the overall index even as one of its largest constituents …
The further fall in headline inflation in April, to a three-year low of 2.6%, means the 2% target could be achieved as soon as August. Whether the Bank of Canada cuts interest rates in a couple of weeks or waits until July, our key message is that the …
