Copom hikes again Brazil’s central bank hiked the Selic rate for a second consecutive meeting, by 50bp to 11.25%, today but this has more to do with the domestic macro backdrop and shoring up monetary policy credibility than a response to the market …
6th November 2024
NBP leaves rates on hold, risks to our rate forecast shift up slightly The decision by the National Bank of Poland (NBP) to leave its policy rate on hold again today, at 5.75%, was never in doubt, and we think that interest rate cuts are unlikely to …
Rebound in mortgage activity short-lived Rising borrowing costs snuffed out the nascent recovery in mortgage activity in October, with home purchase and refinancing applications both slumping after a promising end to September. This puts to bed any hope …
Contraction in housing activity drags headline construction PMI down After a strong September the headline CIPS construction PMI dropped back to 54.3 in October, although that still points to an expansion of construction activity. A rebound in long-term …
Rates on hold, set to remain unchanged Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) today left its main policy rate unchanged at 3.0%, and hinted that it was in no hurry to change rates anytime soon. The decision comes as no surprise – the outcome was correctly predicted …
Trump appears to be edging ahead The presidential election remains too close to call, but Donald Trump does appear to be edging ahead in some of the key swing states. At close to 11.30pm ET, the NYT gives Trump a 91% chance of victory, expecting him to …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Rise in joblessness has further to run The modest rise in the unemployment rate last quarter belies the precarity of the jobs market. We still believe the unemployment rate will …
5th November 2024
The further rise in the ISM services index to a two-year high in October suggests the services sector is continuing to soar, contrasting with the recent weakness in manufacturing. The strong rebound in the employment index is reassuring given the weakness …
Goods trade balance improves, but for the wrong reasons The improvement in the goods trade position in September was for all the wrong reasons, with a fall in imports outpacing a decline in exports. While this suggests that net trade provided a small …
Surge in imports to prove short-lived The trade deficit widened to $84.4bn in September, from an upwardly revised $70.8bn in August, as imports surged ahead of the short-lived port strike in October. Goods exports declined 1% m/m from $179.2bn to …
A positive start to Q4 for the Gulf This response has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. October’s batch of PMIs showed an increase across all of the Gulf economies, although there remained underlying signs that non-oil …
Indonesia GDP (Q3 2024) Growth has been accelerating, not stable as the figures suggest Official figures released today suggest that economic growth in Indonesia was virtually unchanged again last quarter, but we don’t have much faith in the official …
RBA will cut rates early next year Although the Reserve Bank of Australia maintained a broadly neutral tone at its meeting today, we still think it start to lower interest rates as soon as February next year. The Bank’s decision to leave rates unchanged …
Dovish central bank hints at further rate cuts The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) lowered its policy rate today by a further 250bps (to 15.0%) and sounded more dovish than it has done in previous meetings. Today’s cut marks the fourth consecutive meeting …
4th November 2024
Another upside surprise likely to reenforce CBRT’s hawkish stance The smaller-than-expected fall in Turkish inflation in October, to 48.6% y/y, is likely to dash any remaining hopes that a monetary easing cycle will start this year. The risks now seem …
Manufacturing hampered by temporary disruptions The decline in the ISM manufacturing index to a 15-month low in October suggests that the sector continued to struggle as hurricanes and the ongoing strike at Boeing disrupted manufacturing activity further …
1st November 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Temporary disruptions can’t explain all the labour market weakness The near-complete flatline in payrolls in October was only partly due to disruptions caused by hurricanes and …
Inflation to drop sharply next year Another larger-than-expected fall in both headline and core inflation in Switzerland will increase concerns that the country could temporarily enter deflation next year. This will pile on pressure on the SNB to act …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Mortgage rates will still fall next year and support house prices October’s 0.1% m/m rise in Nationwide house prices was a bit weaker than expected (consensus forecast +0.3% m/m, …
Heading for a weak third-quarter The unchanged level of GDP in August and downgrade to July puts third-quarter growth on track to sharply undershoot the Bank of Canada’s estimate of 1.5%. That provides some support to our view that the Bank will cut …
31st October 2024
Inflation news mixed; real economy still looks good for Q4 The news on prices was mixed, with the September data showing that the core PCE deflator increased at a slightly faster 0.25% m/m (or 3.0% in 1m annualised terms) and, in part due to some modest …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Inflation rises but is still below ECB forecasts Euro-zone inflation came in a touch higher than expected in October but was still below the ECB’s projections for Q4. While …
Weak external demand results in a sharp slowdown Hong Kong’s economy contracted sharply in Q3. GDP surprised significantly to the downside, with growth of 0.4% q/q in Q2 more than reversed by a 1.1% q/q fall in Q3 (Bloomberg median: +0.2%, CE: -0.2%). In …
Pace of expansion starts to soften The 0.8% q/q rise in Saudi GDP in Q3 is likely to be followed by further steady increases, but growth will be driven increasingly by higher oil output while there are signs that the non-oil sector is cooling off. The …
Growth rebounds in Q3, exports and investment to drive economy over coming year Taiwan’s economy rebounded in Q3, and we expect GDP growth to remain fairly strong over the coming quarters, helped by robust export demand. The advance estimate of GDP …
Bank of Japan will hike rates at December meeting The Bank of Japan retained its hawkish outlook when it kept policy unchanged at today’s meeting and we still expect a rate hike to 0.5% at its next meeting in December. It came as no surprise that the Bank …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Australian consumer not out of the woods yet Although real retail sales saw a healthy pickup in Q3, there are reasons to suspect the data are overstating the momentum behind …
Consumption weakening yet again The September activity data were a mixed bag and consistent with our view that GDP growth slowed last quarter. Taking industrial production first, the 1.4% m/m rise was stronger than most had anticipated (Refinitiv …
Growth slowing further in Q3, but consumer spending remains strong The latest Russian industrial production and retail sales figures for September were a bit stronger than expected, although GDP growth still probably slowed over Q3 as a whole towards 3.0% …
30th October 2024
Our more detailed and update analysis can be seen here . Despite large rise in taxes, Budget still boosts economy As the Budget loosens fiscal policy relative to previous plans, it is consistent with GDP growth perhaps being a bit stronger and interest …
US economy continues to outperform Despite earlier fears that the US economy was headed for recession, growth continued to out-perform other DMs. Third-quarter GDP growth came in at a solid 2.8% annualised, down only trivially from the 3.0% pace in the …
November rate cut hinges on US election The stronger-than-expected 1.0% q/q expansion in Mexico’s economy in Q3 confirms that the economy pulled out of the slump seen in the first half of the year last quarter. We still think the conditions are …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. GDP growth holds up in Q3, but outlook poor Euro-zone GDP growth came in stronger than expected in Q3 and the early indications are the inflation will be a little higher than …
Central Europe continues to struggle The weaker-than-expected Q3 GDP data out of Central Europe, which showed that the Hungarian economy slipped back into recession last quarter, suggests that stagnating demand from the euro-zone is continuing to act as a …
Third quarter GDP data reported so far suggest that the aggregate euro-zone growth rate will be a little higher than we had forecast in Q3, but the big picture is that, the Olympics and Spain aside, growth in the euro-zone is weak and probably slowing. …
RBA still on course to cut rates in Q1 2025 Today’s CPI release suggests that underlying inflation will be within striking distance of the RBA’s 2-3% target range by year-end. That should pave the way for the Bank to begin easing policy at its meeting …
Annual house price growth continues to cool A slightly healthier 0.3% rise in house prices in August does not change the fact that the market is rapidly cooling amid weak demand and growing supply. Therefore, we stand by our recent decision to trim our …
29th October 2024
Net lending to property sees another decent rise Net lending to property totalled £1.33bn in September, essentially unchanged from the previous month. Lending to standing assets was responsible for all of that total, with net lending to development seeing …
Budget has yet to affect households’ financial decisions Although consumer confidence has fallen ahead of the Budget, there is little evidence in September’s money and lending figures that Budget worries are having a big influence on households’ financial …
Economy contracts, but outlook is strong Preliminary data show that Sweden’s economy contracted by 0.1% q/q in the third quarter, far below the consensus expectation and the Riksbank’s forecasts (0.5% and 0.2% respectively). At face value this may suggest …
LDP election loss heralds era of political instability Following its poor showing in yesterday’s Lower House elections, the LDP will need to form an untested coalition to remain in power which will undermine its ability to push through major pieces of …
27th October 2024
Stage set for a softer fourth quarter While the fall in durable goods orders in September was mostly due to the volatile transportation components, the decline in underlying capital goods shipments will still drag on business equipment investment. The …
25th October 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Upside risks to the Bank’s consumption forecasts growing The increase in retail sales in August and flash estimate for another rise in September poses an upside risk to the Bank …
Surprise 200bp hike takes policy rate to a new high The decision by the Russian central bank (CBR) to hike its policy rate by a larger-than-expected 200bp today, to 21.00%, is evidence that – despite President Putin’s efforts at this week’s BRICS summit …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Germany stuck in recession The rise in the Ifo Business Climate Index in October still left it deep in recessionary territory. With growth in the rest of the euro-zone also weak, …
Pick-up in sales to be short-lived The increase in new home sales in September was probably supported by the fall in mortgage rates last month. Rates have rebounded since then, however, which lends support to our view that new home sales will not rise …
24th October 2024
Banxico’s space to cut hinges on US election The fall in Mexican core services inflation in the first half of October in principle gives Banxico space to press ahead with another 25bp rate cut next month, but much will hinge on the outcome of the US …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Budget concerns trigger slowdown in activity The fall in October’s composite flash PMI to an 11-month low suggests that real GDP growth, after what is shaping up to be a 0.2% q/q …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Flash PMIs support case for 50bp rate cut The low activity and price components of the flash PMIs for the euro-zone in October will strengthen the conviction of policymakers who …
Flash PMI economic momentum is fizzling out The sharp fall in the composite PMI to a 2-year low supports our view that the strong rebound in activity that started in Q2 will be more muted across the second half of the year. Today’s flash estimate showed …
