Further signs of recovery losing momentum The European Commission's Economic Sentiment Indicators for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) generally fell in July, and our regional-weighted measure hit a five-month low, providing additional evidence that the …
30th July 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Recovery continued in Q2 but surveys weakening at start of Q3 The euro-zone’s recovery continued at a moderate pace in Q2 and it should get a small boost from the Paris Olympics …
Weak Q2 makes August rate cut likely The weaker-than-expected 0.2% q/q expansion in Mexico’s economy in Q2 means that Banxico is likely to resume its easing cycle at next week’s Board meeting with a 25bp cut to 10.75%. The outturn was a little weaker …
Recovery slowing National-level data released so far suggests that euro-zone GDP growth slowed to 0.2% q/q in Q2 and the weakening of the surveys in July suggests GDP growth may have eased further this quarter. GDP figures for the euro-zone’s largest …
Recoveries stutter in Q2 The weaker-than-expected Q2 GDP data out of Czechia and Hungary show that weak external demand is still acting as a constraint on the speed of recoveries in Central Europe. While we expect growth to strengthen over the second half …
Leadership flags increased policy support but offers few new ideas The readout of the Politburo’s latest triannual meeting on economic affairs has just been published by state media. It was dovish in tone and adds to recent evidence that the leadership …
The lack of much reaction on net in markets to today’s statement by the UK’s new Chancellor suggests to us that investors remain confident in the Labour Party’s commitment to fiscal discipline. But the disputed ‘revelation’ that the country’s public …
29th July 2024
Our best judgement is that in order to fund the increase in spending of £22bn outlined by the Chancellor today, Reeves will raise an additional £10bn a year (0.3% of GDP) via higher taxes and increase borrowing by about £7bn a year (0.3% of GDP). The …
After the sharp sell-off in recent days, what’s the state of the themes that have been driving US equities? Is the AI story over? Will the rotation trade develop? And what bearing is the presidential election having on the performance of US equities? Our …
Donald Trump’s comments on the Fed have brought the issue of central bank independence into the spotlight. This is not just a concern in the US but an issue that is rearing its head in a number of EMs too. In general, these fears look overdone. But …
Tight monetary policy and low consumer confidence have pushed the euro-zone’s household saving rate up to unusually high levels. While interest rates are set to keep falling and confidence might improve, we think that a big decline in the saving rate is …
A second consecutive reduction in the size of value falls – just 1.4% q/q – in the Q2 NCREIF NPI appears to point to the price correction being all but over. However, with evidence of distress growing and larger price falls reported in other indices, we …
Growth in the Gulf economies is likely to pick up in the coming quarters, particularly as oil output starts to rise from October. The outlook will become more challenging from 2025 as oil prices fall back and it becomes more difficult to sustain loose …
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) lowered its policy rate by 100bps today, and further easing is likely later in the year. Today’s cut marks the second consecutive meeting where the central bank has reduced interest rates. Prior to that, the policy rate …
Italy has become quicker at spending NextGenerationEU (NGEU) funds over the past year but it is still likely to spend only around two-thirds of the total funds allocated to it unless the programme is extended. Italy is set to receive €194bn (around 10% of …
This will be a big week for the UK economy. On Thursday, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will meet to set interest rates. Only a few months ago it had seemed that this would be the meeting at which policymakers might start to cut …
As well as adversely impacting the growth of the workforce, ageing populations may also have a small negative impact on productivity. There is plenty of scope for this to be offset by a positive boost to productivity from the adoption of AI. However, …
The rocket strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights over the weekend has heightened fears of a full-blown conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. For Israel, this risks adding to pressure on its already strained public finances, and would …
Net lending to property picks up as outlook stabilises Net lending to property increased for the third month in a row in June, and the rise of £1.31bn was the largest since the end of 2021. In line with last month the gain was entirely due to a rise in …
Labour market shrugging off fall in job openings The conundrum of low unemployment despite falling job openings continued in June and we expect the labour market to keep treading water over coming months. Data released today showed that the …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. More evidence the drag on activity from higher interest rates is starting to fade June’s money and lending data provided a bit more evidence that the drag from higher activity is …
Economy contracted sharply in Q2, but will return to growth over coming quarters Preliminary data released this morning show that the Swedish economy contracted by 0.8% q/q in Q2, more than offsetting the 0.7% increase in Q1. The data were significantly …
Chinese PMI, Australian CPI, euro-zone GDP, the new UK chancellor’s statement to Parliament, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England, the Fed…it’s a packed week of releases and central bank meetings and Group Chief Economist Neil Shearing talks through …
27th July 2024
The Bank of Canada was already first off the mark compared to other G7 central banks and the second 25bp interest rate cut this week, to 4.50%, puts it further ahead in its loosening cycle. Governor Tiff Macklem said in his opening statement that “we are …
26th July 2024
Despite the possibility that the unwinding of the yen “carry trade” has amplified the global stock market sell-off lately, we think equity prices could rebound even if the yen continued to strengthen. The simultaneity of the yen’s recent rally and the …
At face value, the US dollar remains in something of a lull: the DXY Index is on track to end the week roughly where it ended the previous two. But that apparent stability belies the significant moves in both currency and broader asset markets this week. …
GDP growth not quite as rosy as it seemed The acceleration in GDP growth to 2.8% annualised in the second quarter, from 1.4%, was stronger than the consensus estimate of 2.0% but not a big surprise given the Atlanta Fed GDPNow was pointing to a 2.6% gain …
While many of Vice President Kamala Harris’ climate policies are likely to be similar to Biden’s, her track record suggests she could take a firmer stance on fossil fuel production. However, regardless of who wins the election, we think US crude …
Growing drumbeat of support measures Policymakers’ concerns about the near-term outlook have become much more visible over the past couple of weeks. First, they took the unusual step of discussing the current economic situation in the Third Plenum …
Ukraine reaches a deal Ukraine’s government agreed a preliminary deal on Monday with a group of private creditors to restructure $20bn of its external debt. As part of the deal, Ukraine will receive a 37% haircut on its bonds, and the average maturity …
AGOA: to extend or to not extend? The importance of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) has waned over the past decade, which has focussed attention on efforts to improve it as it comes up for renewal in 2025. Even if it is extended (and …
This week’s news that higher shipping costs pushed up the manufacturing input prices balance of the PMI survey to an 18-month high in July (see here ) has reignited concerns that shipping costs will drive a rebound in core goods CPI inflation. (See Chart …
Venezuela at a turning point? Venezuelans head to the polls on Sunday in what could be a pivotal election – the latest opinion polls put opposition candidate Edmundo González well ahead of incumbent President Nicolás Maduro, meaning there’s the biggest …
Surveys suggest recovery is petering out Data released this week suggest that the euro-zone recovery is fizzling out and leave us comfortable with our below consensus forecasts. Data released on Wednesday showed that the Composite PMI fell in July for the …
Core PCE inflation data strengthen case for September rate cut Core PCE prices increased by 0.18% m/m in June, largely as expected and, although May's increase was revised up slightly to 0.13%, from 0.08%, that still means inflation has been running at a …
CBR delivers bumper hike, leaves door open for further tightening Russia’s central bank (CBR) stepped up to the plate with a 200bp hike to its key policy rate today, to 18.00%, in response to the overheating economy and a renewed surge in inflation. While …
Korea’s unbalanced economy Figures published earlier this week showed that GDP in Korea contracted in the second quarter of the year. While the outturn was below analyst expectations, it was exactly in line with our own estimate. The figures also …
Budget shows focus on employment for Modi 3.0 The government presented the FY24/25 Union Budget on Tuesday, in which it managed to further lower the deficit target while largely fulfilling the spending demands of the BJP’s new coalition partners. We …
We think the capital market reforms announced as part of China’s Third Plenum won’t be enough to reinvigorate China’s equities, which we still think will provide disappointing long-run returns. It’s been a tough few days for China’s equities, which had …
Weak Tokyo CPI may prompt BoJ inaction While we expect the Bank of Japan to lift its policy rate to 0.3% at next week’s meeting (see our BoJ Watch ), only one-third of analysts polled by Refinitiv expect a rate hike at that meeting. The financial markets …
Strong public investment growth alongside overall fiscal prudence have contributed to the rallies in India’s bond and stock markets over the past couple of years. However, we don’t see much in the latest budget to revise our view that gains in the coming …
Case for RBNZ to ease strengthens According to a new survey released by Retail NZ this week, things are going from bad to worse for the domestic retail industry. Indeed, more than two-thirds of retailers reported that they had failed to meet their sales …
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) kept policy unchanged today, but we think today’s marginally dovish statement raises the likelihood of monetary easing in October. The MAS conducts monetary policy by targeting the nominal effective exchange rate …
This website has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Underlying inflation may moderate faster than we expect The sharp slowdown in inflation excluding fresh food and energy in Tokyo this month reduces the likelihood that the …
We think that, in the absence of a recession, “big tech” stocks will regain the lead before long, regardless of the pace of falling inflation. US stock markets have taken a glass half-full view of today’s key US data release , which revealed that both US …
25th July 2024
Almost ready to cut But economic resilience and sticky inflation will probably mean MPC waits until September We think rates will be cut to 3.00% next year, below current market pricing of 4.00% While it will be a very close call, the economy’s recent …
We don’t think the recent rotation in US equities sets the stage for something much bigger. In our opinion, another sustained and substantial rotation won’t begin until shortly before the bubble in the stock market bursts. And our baseline assumption is …
We think that a second term for President Trump would probably worsen the outlook for sustainable energy equities at the margin, and also add to the pessimism around stocks in the beleaguered electric vehicle (EV) sector. We expect that both supply and …
