The stability of UK financial markets ahead of the UK general election is striking when compared to the sharp moves in French asset prices ahead of the French legislative elections. It’s probably because the UK election result isn’t in doubt and the …
27th June 2024
Overview – We forecast most commodities prices to fall next year – despite falling interest rates and faster global GDP growth – as numerous supply constraints ease and a crunch in Chinese construction begins to cloud the outlook for industrial metals. …
The upcoming French election continues to loom over euro-zone financial markets and the euro. We think it would take a worst case scenario in which France’s fiscal outlook worsens materially to generate a sustained fall in the euro. That is a plausible …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. EC Survey points to economic growth stagnating The EC business and consumer survey for June is consistent with weak growth in euro-zone GDP and suggests that price pressures …
A strong end to Q2 The European Commission's Economic Sentiment Indicators for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) suggest that regional growth strengthened at the end of Q2, with our regional-weighted measure of sentiment rising to a two-year high in June. …
May’s data show a continued gradual increase in money and lending growth, though both remain slow. While the ECB’s loosening cycle is now underway, money and lending growth are set to remain subdued. The ECB’s previous monetary tightening caused the …
A soft start to 2024 for office demand and weak jobs outlook in Benelux suggest that recent rental outperformance will not last. With supply also rising, we think prime rental growth will slow to around the euro-zone average in the coming years. Prime …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Riksbank pauses but will probably cut again in August The Riksbank’s decision to leave rates unchanged was as expected and does not suggest that policymakers are regretting their …
Dovish BSP hints at first rate cut in Q3 The central bank in the Philippines (BSP) today left its main policy rate unchanged (at 6.50%), but dropped clear hints that rate cuts were coming soon. We are sticking with our view that the central bank will cut …
While the labour market held up initially as job vacancies started to fall, fewer job openings are now pushing up the unemployment rate in earnest and we expect it to rise from 4% now to 5% by 2026. According to data released by the Australian Bureau of …
Although it’s showed little signs of it lately, we still expect the yen to rebound against the dollar. The yen’s recent struggles have left it its weakest level against the US dollar since the 1980s. Given that the USD/JPY rate has breached 160, where the …
26th June 2024
New home sales fall to six-month low The 11.3% m/m decline in new home sales in May will steal all the headlines, but it largely reflected a significant upward revision to the April sales number, leaving us somewhat confused at the overall health of the …
Will hype around AI continue to fuel a US stock market rally? How are elections and monetary policy shaping the path for bond yields? What will drive the dollar through the rest of 2024 and into 2025? Our Global Markets economists held this special …
Will China’s economy continue supporting metals demand? What would Donald Trump’s re-election mean for energy markets? What’s been driving gold prices and are more record highs likely? Our senior economists held this special briefing about the outlook for …
Overview – Below potential GDP growth and falling core inflation will persuade the Bank of Canada to cut interest rates further, with the policy rate settling at 2.5% next year. Lower interest rates should, in turn, drive a recovery in GDP growth from …
Slightly softer inflation print won’t ease Copom’s concerns The slightly lower-than-expected Brazilian inflation figure, of 4.1% y/y, for the first half of June won’t change the picture that the central bank’s easing cycle is over – for this year at …
We are resending this publication because the previous version had the wrong headline. Retail sales point to strong consumption rebound Retail sales rose sharply in May which suggests that consumption may have rebounded even more strongly this quarter …
Overview – Activity has slowed to a standstill in both countries. Although output growth should gather momentum going forward, it will remain below its pre-pandemic average. However, with underlying inflation still running well above target, central banks …
RBA will take upside surprise in inflation in its stride The jump in inflation in May means that the Reserve Bank of Australia will be debating interest rate hikes for a while yet, but with the economy doing worse than it has been anticipating, we still …
Nvidia has entered correction territory, but we doubt this will mark the beginning of the end of enthusiasm about artificial intelligence (AI). Instead, this might usher in a new phase of a bubble we expect will keep inflating in the next year or so. …
25th June 2024
The escalating protests in Kenya will add to the near-term headwinds facing economic activity as well as raise further question marks over the government’s ability to push through fiscal consolidation measures. That could ultimately cause fears of a …
Higher costs, lower risk, a better rental growth outlook and competition from less yield-sensitive buyers all help explain why residential yields have been below other commercial property sectors for the last 30 years. While some moderation in buy-to-let …
Overview – We expect core inflation to be back to the 2% target by early next year, allowing the Fed to begin cutting interest rates from this September. GDP growth will remain a little lacklustre this year but, as the shift in monetary policy begins to …
After a strong recovery post-pandemic, momentum in hotel revenue growth is likely to remain subdued over the next few years. With a stronger US dollar hindering the revival of the tourist industry, we suspect metros such as Austin and Dallas will remain …
We are generally pessimistic about the rental outlook in Germany (see here ), however, this conceals large variance across cities – most notably for offices between leader Munich and laggard Berlin . Munich prime rent growth has been among the strongest …
After a strong start of the year, regional growth appears to have slowed in Q2 and we expect this to continue in the coming quarters. Brazil and Mexico’s economies are likely to underperform the Andes and disappoint consensus expectations in the next …
Bank Al-Maghrib joins the EM rate cutters Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) announced this afternoon that it has cut its key policy interest rate by 25bp, to 2.75%. We expect that the Bank will continue to tread cautiously, as the governor has …
Price inflation slows for first time in almost a year The second consecutive moderate 0.3% m/m rise in house prices in April could be a sign that the increase in home listings this year has cooled the market. We think rising supply will eventually be …
July cut on shaky ground The stronger monthly gains in the Bank of Canada’s preferred core price measures in May will give the Bank some cause for concern after starting its loosening cycle in June. However, with some of that strength due to factors that …
If the results of France’s election, or actions of the next French government, trigger contagion to other euro-zone countries’ bond markets, the ECB could respond by purchasing their bonds using the Transmission Protection Instrument (TPI). Under some …
Overview – China’s economy is on course to expand by 5.5% this year, buoyed by policy support and strong exports. But we remain less sanguine about the medium-term outlook. Domestic Demand – A ramp up in fiscal spending should boost domestic demand in …
A return of President Trump to the White House would be a shot across the bows for global efforts to reduce emissions – particularly as he would almost certainly withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement again . But while he could deal another blow to the …
Prime Minister Modi begins his third term with a weakened mandate, but an economy that is primed to grow by 6.5-7% per year between 2024 and 2026. That would put India on course to become the world’s third largest economy within the next couple of years. …
Overview – The next government, which the polls ahead of the election on 4 th July suggest will be a Labour one, will benefit from a combination of lower inflation, lower interest rates and faster economic growth than most are expecting. We think that a …
Growth in the Gulf economies is likely to pick up in the coming quarters, particularly as oil output starts to rise from October. We think non-oil sectors will continue to grow strongly. But the outlook will become more challenging from 2025 as oil prices …
Emerging Asia Chart Pack (June 2024) …
Are signs of recovery sustainable? Is inflation receding enough for more central banks to join the global easing cycle? Do upcoming elections pose a risk to the economic outlook? Our senior economists for held two special briefings on Monday, 1st …
24th June 2024
Nearly all major emerging market (EM) currencies have fallen against the US dollar so far this year, but we think the downside for most of these currencies is limited from here. While most EM currencies are starting the week on a strong note, they have a …
There is huge uncertainty about whether fertility rates have reached a floor in those countries with the lowest rates. But even if they start to rise again, it is almost unavoidable that a rising number of countries will experience falling populations …
The recent encouraging inflation data reinforce our view that the Fed will cut interest rates in September. We remain confident that core inflation is heading back to the 2% target, which should allow the Fed to cut rates again in December and by even …
France elections and market risk …
This Update summarises the answers to some of the questions which clients raised in our recent online briefing about the forthcoming French legislative elections. The questions are divided into three sections: politics, economics, and markets. (The online …
Our China Activity Proxy suggests that economic growth weakened in May on the back of a fall in services activity. Industry also slowed, following months of outperformance. We doubt this marks the start of a downturn just yet – fiscal stimulus and strong …
Strong services inflation and fall in peso to keep Banxico in hawkish mood The continued strength in core services inflation in Mexico in the first half of June, combined with the post-election slump in the peso and heightened political uncertainty, means …
You don’t need fluent French to understand what France’s finance minister was referring to when he warned of “un scénario à la Liz Truss” if the far right wins in upcoming legislative elections. Bruno Le Maire’s warning about a repeat of the turmoil that …
Domestic demand driving the recovery The Polish activity data for May were a mixed bag with retail sales bouncing back, while industry suffered a renewed contraction. With domestic demand likely to stay strong over the coming months, we maintain our …
We held an online Drop-In session late last week to discuss the outlook for monetary policy following the June policy meetings of the Bank of England, US Federal Reserve and ECB. (See a recording here .) This Update answers several of the questions that …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Business sentiment still poor June’s decline in the Ifo business climate indicator (BCI) to a very low level highlights that even after Germany’s economy grew in Q1, it is far …
In the latest episode of The Weekly Briefing from Capital Economics, Group Chief Economist Neil Shearing previews upcoming US PCE inflation data, outlines the fiscal challenges facing the next UK Chancellor and explains how Chinese manufacturing …
23rd June 2024
The Summary of Deliberations from the Bank of Canada’s June meeting reiterated that further interest rate cuts are likely but gave little away about how quickly the Bank will move. With another two CPI releases before the July meeting, our sense is that …
21st June 2024
