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Survey undermines hopes of a spring awakening The marginal improvement in the headline prices paid and new buyer enquiries balance of the RICS Residential Survey did not alter the overarching message that prices are falling and sales slumping. While the …
13th April 2023
Resilient labour market will prompt RBA to hike rates further in May The strength in March’s labour market data will probably prompt the Reserve Bank of Australia to deliver a final 25bp rate hike next month, but unemployment will rise before long . The …
Core inflation remains elevated despite easing in shelter There were some encouraging signs in the March CPI report, including the first evidence that shelter inflation is slowing, but core prices still increased by 0.4% m/m which, on an annualised basis, …
12th April 2023
Another bearish signal on Q1 business investment The fall in “core” machinery orders in February is another bearish signal on business investment last quarter. Domestic machine tool orders suggest a further fall in March, but even if “core” machinery …
Strong consumption momentum to carry over into Q2 Both the current and outlook readings in March hit their highest in more than a year, capping off a strong first quarter for the EWS. This is another sign that private consumption remained resilient in Q1 …
10th April 2023
Employment and wage growth continue to trend lower The 236,000 gain in non-farm payrolls in March adds to the evidence that the economy’s strong start to the year was partly weather related, with momentum fading again. With the sharp fall in job openings …
7th April 2023
Construction activity holds up as housing enters the doldrums The March headline CIPS Construction PMI reversed some of its surprise jump in February, but it remained in expansionary territory. That was driven by the commercial sector, where strong …
6th April 2023
House price indices diverge The third consecutive monthly increase in house prices recorded by Halifax suggests that pricing is proving remarkably resilient to higher mortgage rates. But it is at odds with the consistent fall in the Nationwide house …
Industrial resilience won’t prevent recession The second consecutive big increase in German industrial production in February all but confirms that GDP returned to growth in Q1. The industrial resilience may continue in the coming months but we still …
Falling international trade points to weaker growth The widening of the trade surplus in February largely reflects the fact that imports of goods and services fell at a much faster rate than exports. Therefore, even though net trade will make a positive …
Note: Office-based employment data for several metros were missing for February. February employment growth slowed after January’s high February saw a slowdown in jobs growth after a strong month prior, suggesting January’s jump in employment was an …
5th April 2023
Mortgage applications boosted by banking turmoil A sharp decline in 10-year Treasury yields in the middle of March led to a drop in mortgage rates, restoking demand for mortgage applications as a result. We expect this will help offset a tightening in …
Falling trade volumes add to signs of economic slowdown The sharp declines in both exports and imports in February add to the signs that economic growth is faltering. Although strong gains in January mean that both are still likely to have risen over the …
Surveys point to expansion in Q1 March’s PMIs suggest that the economy expanded in Q1. They also point to further gains in employment and strong price pressures. With the turmoil in the banking sector having stabilised, this makes us more confident in our …
Domestic weakness offsetting China reopening boost The slump in the ISM manufacturing index to a new cyclical low of 46.3 in March, from 47.7, indicates that the post zero-Covid recovery in manufacturing activity in China has not benefited US producers …
3rd April 2023
March’s sharp fall in headline inflation in Switzerland will provide some relief for the SNB as the decrease was spread across a wide range of goods. However, underlying price pressures remain strong by Swiss standards and we expect the SNB to hike …
Housing downturn has further to run With housing affordability the most stretched it’s been since the global financial crisis, we don’t think the uptick in house prices in March will be sustained. We’re sticking to our forecast that house prices will fall …
Faltering business conditions, investment intentions point to recession Today’s Tankan survey suggests that while the services sector remains resilient, the outlook for the manufacturing sector has worsened materially. The Tankan’s headline index for …
Recession still to come this year as resilience recedes The final Q4 2022 GDP data suggested the economy was even more resilient in 2022 than we previously thought, as the government absorbed some of the hit to households from high inflation. But we …
31st March 2023
Adjustment to higher mortgage rates continues House prices fell for a seventh consecutive month in February, taking the total fall from their peak in August to 4.6%. With house prices still significantly overvalued in today’s higher mortgage rate …
Economy still headed for recession While industrial production bounced back and retail sales recorded a strong increase in February, we still think that the economy entered a recession this quarter . The 4.5% m/m rebound in industrial output was much …
Labour market conditions starting to loosen, upside risks to inflation Labour market conditions loosened in February and should continue to do so over coming months due to a recession. Meanwhile, Tokyo CPI data showed a large increase in underlying …
Headline inflation tumbling, core peaking The big falls in headline inflation in Germany and Spain should provide some relief for struggling households in the coming months. And core inflation in Germany may now have passed its peak. However, with …
30th March 2023
Net lending turns negative as investors hold back Net lending to property turned negative in February, as investors held back in the face of falling capital values. But the decline was small and even though the recent banking crisis will lead to some …
29th March 2023
Higher interest rates continue to hurt housing more than consumer credit February’s money and credit data suggest that higher interest rates were a further drag on lending in February, particularly in the housing market. That’s before the effects of the …
Mortgage lending still depressed despite slight recovery Reflecting the partial unwinding of the spike in mortgage rates following the “mini” budget, mortgage approvals rose to their highest level for three months in February. However, with mortgage rates …
Sharp slowdown in inflation will prompt RBA pause next week The further sharp fall in inflation coupled with the softness of consumption will probably prompt the Reserve Bank of Australia to pause its tightening cycle next week, though we still expect one …
House prices still falling slowly, but more to come House prices continued to nudge lower in January, taking the total fall since their June 2022 peak to 3.0%. But with affordability still stretched, we expect price falls to continue over the coming …
28th March 2023
Softness in retail sales raises risk of RBA pause The tepid rise in retail sales in February all but locks in a contraction in sales volumes in Q1. We think that a stronger rise in services spending will help keep private consumption buoyant this quarter. …
Resilience unlikely to last The fifth successive monthly increase in the Ifo Business Climate Index (BCI) in March suggests that Germany is still benefitting from falling energy prices and easing supply problems but has yet to feel the full effects of …
27th March 2023
Investment weakening even before banking woes The 1.0% m/m fall in durable goods orders in February indicates that business equipment investment was weak even before the banking turmoil arose. With business confidence likely to have taken a hit in recent …
24th March 2023
Fading domestic price pressures could mean yesterday’s rate hike is the last The flash PMIs suggest the economy’s strong start to the year was sustained in March. But with the full drag from high interest rates yet to be felt, our hunch is still that …
Too soon to conclude February’s rebound will be sustained The further rebound in retail sales volumes in February suggests the recent resilience in activity hasn’t yet faded. But we doubt this will last as the drag on activity from higher interest rates …
Slight improvement doesn’t change recessionary outlook March’s flash PMIs corroborate our view that the economy will see a mild recession this year. The manufacturing PMI improved but was still contractionary, as demand remained weak. Meanwhile a further …
Inflation to still fall below 2% target despite higher peak for food inflation Government energy subsidies took 1%-pt off headline inflation last month, but the rise in underlying inflation to a four-decade high underscores the strength in price …
Homebuilder incentives support new home sales The modest recovery in new home sales continued in February reflecting support from price reductions and incentives offered by homebuilders, as well as a tight existing home market pushing buyers to the new …
23rd March 2023
Reacceleration in inflation supports the case for another rate hike The reacceleration in CPI inflation in February may be enough to tilt the Bank of England towards raising interest rates from 4.00% to 4.25% tomorrow despite the recent turmoil in the …
22nd March 2023
Rebound in sales likely to reverse Existing home sales rebounded in February as buyers took advantage of falling mortgage rates. Weak mortgage applications data point to sales dropping back again in March, but with turmoil in the banking sector contained …
21st March 2023
Pre-election tax cuts in prospect, but risks to the fiscal outlook growing Despite February’s worse-than-expected public finances figures, we still think the Chancellor may have more headroom to cut taxes/raise spending later this year. But the big risk …
Strong payrolls did not make it into the office January was an especially strong month for payrolls data, and this translated into positive employment growth across all 30 of the biggest metros. However, this was not the case for office-based jobs, as a …
17th March 2023
Surveys point to renewed weakness soon The February industrial production data were marginally stronger than we had expected, with manufacturing output rising by a further 0.1% m/m following the 1.3% surge in January. But with the regional surveys going …
Tighter credit conditions add to headwinds facing construction Single-family housing starts continued their weak start to the year in February with a marginal month-on-month increase. While forward looking indicators appear to have turned a corner, …
16th March 2023
Red-hot labour market will prompt further RBA tightening February’s strong labour force figures will prompt the Reserve Bank of Australia to press ahead with another 25bp hike at its April meeting despite mounting signs of strain in the global banking …
Rebound doesn’t change recessionary outlook The trade deficit narrowed in February as export volumes picked up and import volumes continued to fall. “Core” machinery orders surprised to the upside in January, but that still points to a fall in capital …
Economy is tipping into recession With the New Zealand economy in for more pain on the heels of the Q4 GDP decline, we expect the RBNZ to start cutting rates towards the end of the year. The -0.6% q/q drop in production GDP was weaker than most had …
15th March 2023
Crude stocks rise, but all eyes are on the banks Commercial crude stocks rose this week, but product stocks fell. That said, the bigger picture remains one of subdued domestic demand, which we expect to remain the case for some time yet. After a dip in …
January surge mostly sustained The 0.4% m/m fall in retail sales in February only partly reversed the 3.2% surge in January, suggesting that real consumption growth will accelerate to at least 3.5% annualised in the first quarter. But to the extent that …
Strong inflation data counter financial stability concerns The 0.5% m/m rise in core consumer prices last month adds to the evidence that inflation remains stubbornly high, but the ongoing fallout from the SVB crisis over the coming days is still likely …
14th March 2023
Latest figures confirm plummeting demand during Q4 The detailed mortgage lending data for Q4 showed a slump in demand, as rising mortgage rates began to bite. The latest MLAR data confirmed the sharp turnaround in market conditions and suggest that, with …
Wage growth eases despite labour market remaining tight The labour market remained tight in January. Even so, the Bank of England will breathe a sigh of relief as wage growth is easing. Together with the collapse of a couple of US banks having tightened …
