More good news for the RBA The Reserve Bank of Australia should take comfort from the fact that most of the data released this week point to a better balance between demand and supply in the economy. On Wednesday we learnt that CPI inflation came in at …
1st March 2024
Housing market will cool further still Australian house price gains eased only slightly in February. However, with home sales now softening noticeably, we suspect that the momentum behind the housing rebound will soon fade. Allowing for seasonal swings, …
This report was first published on Friday 1 st March covering the official PMIs and Caixin manufacturing PMI. We added commentary on the Caixin services and composite PMIs on Tuesday 5 th March. An encouraging improvement in services activity The PMIs are …
Canada Chart Pack (Feb. 2024) …
29th February 2024
January US PCE inflation is in line with our view that the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation will return to target by mid-year, allowing policymakers to cut rates further than investors seem to expect. So we still think that the 10-year Treasury yield …
The resilience of the US economy in this cycle means the rise in distressed assets has been much slower than in the GFC-era recession, as relatively few firms have gone bust. But the structural adjustment in office demand will ultimately have a similar …
Aggregate EM growth softened towards the end of last year and we think it will remain weak in 2024. But there will be divergence at the country level with growth slowing in those economies that outperformed in 2023 and growth picking up in last year’s …
We expect ‘safe’ assets to rally a bit more over the next couple of years, largely informed by our belief that investors are underestimating how quickly and/or how far many central banks will cut interest rates over 2024-2025. Our expectation that safe …
We expect the February employment report to show that, despite a strong 250,000 rise in non-farm payrolls, wage growth is still on a downward trend. The payrolls data show a dramatic acceleration in employment growth around the turn of the year, with …
Economies in Central and Eastern Europe ended 2023 on a weak note, but the outlook for this year looks brighter. Lower inflation and interest rates should support a recovery in domestic demand over the coming quarters. In contrast, Turkey’s economy has …
Recent comments by one of the six members of the ECB’s Executive Board have reignited debate over the appropriate role for central banks in tackling climate change. Against this backdrop, we are re-publishing analysis that was originally released in early …
Economy looking a bit better than the Bank expected The 1.0% annualised rise in fourth-quarter GDP was stronger than the stagnation that the Bank of Canada expected and, together with the downward revision to the third-quarter contraction, is reason to …
Resurgence in core prices a speed bump rather than pothole The surge in core PCE prices in January was largely as expected after the hot CPI and PPI reports. Although that surge has ruled out an early Fed rate cut, particularly in an environment where …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Exceptional economic performance suggests no imminent rate cuts The GDP data for Q4 confirm that India’s economy ended last year with a bang. Looking ahead, we expect economic …
Despite renewed inflation concerns pushing interest rate expectations and gilt yields higher, our forecast that CPI inflation will fall below 1.0% later this year makes us think that the markets are wrong to price in interest rates falling from 5.25% now …
Even with Ras el Hekma deal, Egypt needs the IMF Headlines in the past week have been dominated by Egypt’s deal to sell the Ras el Hekma project to the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, ADQ, to provide crucial foreign currency inflows. But, even with this …
Checking in on clean energy equities The MSCI Global Alternative Energy Index has outperformed the standard MSCI World Energy benchmark since we published an Update in November arguing that we had reached peak-pessimism for clean energy equities. (See …
Net lending increases in January but new development still subdued Net lending to commercial property increased for the eleventh consecutive month in January. Over H1 2024, we expect investment and lending to new development to slowly recover, as capital …
China’s economy has regained some strength recently. We expect this to continue over the coming months, on the back of support from fiscal policy and a further pick-up in household spending. But with property construction likely to continue to decline and …
German state figures point to fall in euro-zone inflation The fall in CPI inflation in most German states in February all but confirms that both German and euro-zone HICP inflation will have declined broadly in line with expectations this month. This …
Swiss economic growth likely to accelerate further The second successive 0.3% q/q increase in Swiss GDP in Q4 was better than the consensus and our own forecasts of 0.1% and we now think economic growth is likely to accelerate further in the coming …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Drag on consumption from higher interest rates fading January’s money and credit figures suggest the drag on consumer spending and the housing market from higher interest rates …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Economy re-accelerates in Q4 The pick-up in Turkish GDP growth to 1.0% q/q in Q4 was driven by a rebound in private consumption and suggests that aggressive monetary tightening …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. RBA will take comfort from spending restraint Notwithstanding the rebound in January, we suspect retail sales will make only modest gains across Q1 as a whole. The softness in …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Huge fall in industrial production suggests continued weakness in activity The plunge in industrial production January suggests that GDP will fall yet again this quarter, which …
The US dollar has made further gains against most major currencies over the past month or so. Interest rate expectations have edged higher in the US and in most places outside Asia, weighing particularly on that region's currencies. While we no longer …
28th February 2024
Underlying inflation pressures ease in January But signs of stronger economy reduces risk of maintaining restrictive policy We expect the Bank to cut interest rates in June The Bank will be relieved to see the broad-based easing in core inflation in …
We think the Fed and most other DM central banks will deliver a bit more policy rate cuts this year and next than investors currently anticipate. As a result, we forecast that Treasury yields will end 2024 slightly below their current levels, putting …
Although the US’ trade in electricity with Canada and Mexico is small compared to its overall energy trade, it should grow as clean energy capacity rises and grid connections improve. Canada should continue to be a net exporter as hydropower flows south …
The RBNZ’s decision to keep its policy rate on hold today illustrates how the bar for further rate hikes has become increasingly high for most central banks, even in the face of upside surprises to inflation. With money markets in New Zealand, and most …
Economy maintains strong momentum The latest activity data for January suggest that Russia’s economy maintained solid growth at the start of this year, which supports our forecast for above-potential GDP growth of 3.0% over the course of 2024. Retail …
Romania’s large twin budget and current account deficits remain a key concern. One near-term risk is that fiscal policy stays very loose (or is loosened further), particularly in view of elections taking place later this year. This could cause risk …
We expect strong returns from European equities in the next couple of years, but we think they will continue to underperform those in the US. The MSCI Europe Index has underperformed all other MSCI major regional indices so far this year, in both …
We are revising up our end-2024 and end-2025 forecasts for the 10-year Treasury yield by 25bp, to 4%. This reflects recent changes to our projections for the federal funds rate . Nonetheless, our new forecast for the 10-year yield still implies a small …
Africa Chart Pack (Feb. 2024) …
The disinflation story is largely over in Switzerland, and rising rent inflation may actually cause headline inflation to increase in the summer. However, this will not stop the SNB from cutting its policy rate on the 21 st March by 25bp to 1.5%. …
The latest crane survey reported the highest volume of London office starts on record. In part that reflects a refurbishment boom as developers retrofit their buildings to meet MEES standards and benefit from the green premium. New development is also …
A version of this report was originally published as an opinion piece in The Times on 28th February 2024. The government will reportedly unveil an initiative to encourage lenders to offer 99 per cent mortgages in the spring budget. If implemented, it …
Emerging Asia Chart Pack (February 2024) …
Sentiment edges lower, but still points to recovery The European Commission's Economic Sentiment Indicators for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) generally fell in February, but still point to regional GDP growth strengthening in Q1. Economic sentiment …
This is an updated checklist which takes into account our latest expectations for the Spring Budget. The checklist helps clients keep track of the key policies and forecasts announced during the Chancellor’s Spring Budget at 12:30pm (GMT) on Wednesday 6 …
EC Survey points to stagnant economy and still-high price pressures The EC business and consumer survey for February reinforces the message that the economy is close to recession and that, although price pressures in the services sector eased slightly, …
Given the signs that cyclical and structural forces will raise tin demand this year, set against a backdrop of tightening supply due to the mining ban in Myanmar, we forecast the tin price to rise in 2024. The tin price has, for the most part, been …
Today’s budget maintains a supportive fiscal stance, and contains major steps to revitalise the property sector. Spending to attract foreign visitors to Hong Kong and support businesses was stepped up too. Taken together, these measures should prevent the …
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand handed down another hawkish hold at its meeting today. However, with inflation on track to return to its 1-3% target by mid-year, we still expect the Bank to start cutting rates by August. The RBNZ’s decision to leave its …
RBNZ holds rates steady while retaining hawkish bias As had been widely expected, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand left its official cash rate unchanged at 5.50% today. 28 out of 29 analysts polled by Reuters, including ourselves, correctly predicted the …
Inflation will continue to undershoot RBA's expectations The weaker-than-expected inflation print for January all but ensures that the RBA won’t hike rates any further, even if it does retain its hawkish bias at its next meeting in March. And with price …
While enthusiasm over AI probably explains much of the “Magnificent Seven’s” outperformance in the US, the outperformance of the largest stocks in other markets is indicative of a broader shift in investors’ preferences towards larger stocks. That helps …
27th February 2024
The $35bn deal struck between Egypt’s government and the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, ADQ, will go some way towards alleviating acute balance of payments strains and pave the way for an enhanced IMF deal to be signed off soon. A devaluation of the …
