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The resilience of Swiss GDP over the past two years has been largely due to the merchanting sector, which buys and sells goods without them ever entering Switzerland. Excluding that sector, the economy was smaller at the end of 2023 than it was two years …
16th April 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Rise in output doesn’t improve poor outlook for industry Euro-zone industrial production rose in January, but the level of output is still weak and the outlook is poor. The 0.8% …
15th April 2024
The main takeaway from Thursday’s ECB meeting is that a rate cut in June is highly likely. Big upward surprises to inflation and wage growth data, or increases in the ECB’s updated inflation projections, would probably be necessary for officials to hold …
12th April 2024
The ECB’s decision to update its guidance suggests that an interest rate cut at the next meeting in June is very likely. Christine Lagarde would understandably not commit to a path of rate cuts, but we expect the Bank to reduce the deposit rate from 4% …
11th April 2024
Updated guidance suggests that June cut is likely The ECB’s decision to update its guidance suggests that an interest rate cut at the next meeting in June is very likely. In the press conference, Christine Lagarde won’t give a clear signal about the path …
After a period of relative calm, Italy’s fragile public finances are likely to come under the spotlight again before long. Budget deficits will be much higher than the latest government projections imply and Italy will probably face official EU procedures …
10th April 2024
The Q1 ECB Bank Lending Survey suggests that the drag on lending growth from tight monetary policy continued to ease. But the data remain consistent with broadly stagnant consumption and declines in investment. For the first time since late 2021, banks …
9th April 2024
The latest data are consistent with our view that the euro-zone will remain close to recession in the near term. With the labour market softening and inflation continuing to fall, the ECB is very likely to start cutting rates in June. Elsewhere, the SNB …
8th April 2024
Some signs of life from German industry, but outlook still poor The second consecutive large monthly rise in German industrial production in February confirms the sector has started the year on a better note. But we still expect it to struggle over the …
While we learnt this week that inflation in the euro-zone fell a bit more than expected in March, to 2.4%, some commentators pointed out that the monthly increase was quite high, at 0.8%, and was even higher than in February (0.6%). However, most of the …
5th April 2024
ECB will signal that policymakers expect to cut interest rates in June. A 25bp cut in June is most likely, but a 50bp move is plausible. Policymakers will keep their options open beyond that. Next week, we expect the ECB to signal clearly that as long …
4th April 2024
Surprise fall in Swiss inflation raises odds of further SNB rate cuts The further fall in Swiss inflation in March reinforces our view that the SNB will cut rates by a further 50bp this year. We have pencilled in the next rate cut for September, but there …
ECB officials have stressed that evidence of easing wage growth will be key in determining the timing of the first rate cut. Accordingly, this Update assesses which of the euro-zone’s numerous wage measures investors should keep their eyes on. The main …
3rd April 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Falling inflation points to June rate cut The fall in both headline and core inflation in March suggests that the ECB is very likely to begin cutting interest rates in June. The …
The universal tariff which Donald Trump has proposed, along with other likely spillovers from his trade policies, may result in a hit to the euro-zone economy of up to half a percent of GDP. The damage would be bigger if this triggered a transatlantic or …
2nd April 2024
National data point to fall in euro-zone inflation The fall in CPI inflation in the major German states in March all but confirms that both German and euro-zone HICP inflation will come in lower than expected in March. This will please ECB policymakers, …
Confirmation that France’s budget deficit was much higher last year (5.5%) than assumed in the government’s 2024 budget (4.9%) adds to concerns about Europe’s public finances. Indeed, Germany, France and Italy are all likely to be tightening fiscal policy …
28th March 2024
February’s money and credit data suggest that the effect of tighter monetary policy has eased slightly. But the data are still very weak and we think that rate cuts later in the year will lead to only a gradual rebound. The narrow (M1) money supply …
We think investors are underestimating the extent of rates cuts that the Riksbank will make this year. Policymakers are, rightly in our view, increasingly confident that inflation will soon return sustainably to the 2% target. Accordingly, we think they …
27th March 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. EC Survey points to stagnant economy and still-high price pressures The EC business and consumer survey for March reinforces the message that the economy is close to recession …
Riksbank Policy Announcement (March 2024) Riksbank confirms rate cuts imminent The Rikbsank’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 4.0% today was no surprise and the press release confirms that policymakers expect to cut rates soon. We are …
Data released today showed that Spanish inflation picked up from 2.9% in February to 3.2% in March. We think it is likely to increase further over the coming months due to base effects in energy inflation, higher VAT rates on energy and foods, and …
Data released this week broadly support our view that the euro-zone economy will have stagnated in Q1. The Composite PMI rose a touch in March but remained consistent with GDP flatlining. And the ZEW painted a similar picture. Admittedly, we also learned …
22nd March 2024
Germany Ifo Survey (March 2024) Although the Ifo Business Climate Index rose quite sharply in March, much of the improvement was in the volatile expectations component and it remained at an exceptionally low level. We still think the economy is likely to …
The SNB under Chairman Thomas Jordan has never shied away from making big calls, so it was fitting that it surprised markets with a 25bp rate cut today, to 1.5%, only three weeks after Mr Jordan announced he would leave his post in September. We expect …
21st March 2024
SNB kicks off rate-cutting cycle The SNB became the first G10 central bank to cut rates this policy cycle, reducing its policy rate by 25bp to 1.5% today. This was in line with our non-consensus forecast, and with the Bank sounding more dovish and …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Stagnation continues, price pressures still high The flash PMIs for March suggest that the euro-zone economy is still flatlining, in line with our forecast. Meanwhile, the price …
We think the Riksbank will leave its policy rate unchanged at 4.0% next week but cut it by 25bp at the following meeting, in May. Beyond that, our forecast is for rates to come down much faster than the Riksbank’s own forecasts imply but broadly in line …
20th March 2024
The recent weakness of Germany’s economy is partly due to temporary factors which should ease this year. However, demographic and structural headwinds, partly driven by global fragmentation, mean the economy is likely to grow by little more than half a …
19th March 2024
Overview – The euro-zone will remain close to recession until the second half of this year and the subsequent recovery is likely to be weak. Household real incomes will pick up only slowly and consumers will be cautious amid a softening labour market. …
15th March 2024
ECB postpones some big decisions After 15 months of waiting, this week the ECB finally published the outcome of its operational framework review. We set out the key points here . In the near term, the status quo will largely be maintained, with the …
Inflation in Switzerland has surprised most other forecasters, including the SNB, this year by falling to just 1.2% in February, which was the ninth month in a row that it has been below 2%. We think this will encourage the SNB to reduce the policy rate …
14th March 2024
Inflation in Norway has fallen more quickly than Norges Bank expected, so at next week’s meeting it is likely to signal that it will cut interest rates sooner than it previously expected, perhaps in Q3. And we think there’s a good chance that it will make …
Sweden CPI (February) Rapid disinflation sets up May rate February's inflation data will strengthen policymakers' conviction that they can begin to cut interest rates in May. The fall the Riksbank’s target CPIF measure of inflation, which excludes the …
The ECB’s new operational framework for implementing monetary policy, announced this afternoon, was largely in line with our expectations and has no immediate implications for monetary policy. But it does mean that the Bank will maintain a portfolio of …
13th March 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Output to continue falling Euro-zone industrial production fell in January and is likely to continue contracting in the coming months due to weak demand. The 3.2% m/m decrease in …
The timeliest data support our long-held view that the euro-zone economy will remain close to recession in the first half of the year. Beyond that, we think growth will be much lower than the consensus or the ECB are forecasting. However, the labour …
12th March 2024
Productivity in the euro-zone has been falling for well over a year. We think this is largely because it was unsustainably high in mid-2022 as many companies struggled to fill vacancies. Since then, it has fallen to more manageable levels. The decline in …
Further easing in core inflation sets up Q2 rate cut February’s inflation data from Norway strengthen our conviction that Norges Bank will cut interest rates much sooner than its forecasts suggest. The decline in headline inflation from 5.3% in January to …
11th March 2024
June rate cut coming The main event this week was the ECB meeting on Thursday where the key message was that officials are getting closer to easing policy but want to see more evidence that wage growth and underlying inflation are moderating before …
8th March 2024
German Industrial Production (January) January increase but activity still weak The rise in Germany industrial production in January reverses only a fraction of the previous falls and does not change our view that the sector will struggle this year. The …
Today’s ECB decision was in line with expectations and President Lagarde’s comments in the press conference reinforce our view that June is the earliest date by which the Bank will start to cut rates. There were no major surprises in today’s ECB policy …
7th March 2024
Lagarde likely to dash remaining hopes of April rate cut The ECB decision to leave rates unchanged and the key messages in the press release were in line with expectations. In the forthcoming press conference we suspect that Christine Lagarde will kill …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Euro-zone sales rose but still weak January’s retail sales data are consistent with our view that the near-term outlook for consumption is poor. While retail sales edged up by …
6th March 2024
Swiss CPI (February) Swiss disinflation ending but rate cuts now likely The period of disinflation in Switzerland is close to an end, but with inflation likely to remain close to 1% for the foreseeable future we think policymakers will start lowering …
4th March 2024
ECB will leave its deposit rate at 4.0% again next week. Policymakers will cut growth and headline (but not core) inflation forecasts. We now anticipate 100bp of rate cuts this year starting in June. Next week’s ECB meeting looks set to be a fairly …
1st March 2024
The main data releases in the euro-zone this week will have done little to dispel ECB policymakers’ view that they should wait patiently before making a decision on when to cut interest rates. Economic activity appears to have made a slow start to the …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. ECB rate cut in April is not going to happen February’s euro-zone inflation data look like the final nail in the coffin for an April interest rate cut . The decline in headline …
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 …
29th February 2024
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 …
