The larger and faster pace of ECB rate cuts we now expect means euro-zone government bond yields are likely to be lower in the coming years than previously forecast. This is positive for property valuations and means property yields could fall by more in …
19th November 2024
Higher US interest rates will probably continue to weigh on government bonds globally. But we still expect bond yields in most developed market (DM) economies to fall back by the end of 2025, as domestic monetary policy eases further. Sovereign yields …
We think that the euro will fall to parity against the US dollar next year but will strengthen against some other currencies, such as the renminbi, and on a trade-weighted basis we forecast it to be little changed. So the effect of FX moves on growth and …
18th November 2024
US President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to curb immigration and undertake a mass deportation of undocumented migrants could boost labour supply in countries that are the source of migrants. But there could be social and fiscal costs, as well as lower …
A plunge in the average household size kept housing demand strong during the pandemic even as population growth ground to a halt. RBA estimates suggest that the average household size has remained low ever since, but economic forces point to a rebound. …
European natural gas prices have trended higher this year and are likely to fluctuate around €40-45 per MWh until conditions in the global LNG market loosen. That said, prices will drop back meaningfully once the wave of LNG supply arrives, with a good …
15th November 2024
We think that the impact of Trump’s proposed 10% universal tariff on euro-zone GDP would be very small, in part because we expect the effect to be offset by a weaker euro. So we aren’t pushing down our already below-consensus GDP growth forecasts any …
The US dollar has rallied sharply since the US election last week – as we had expected it would in the event of a Trump win. Based on our assessment of the new policy outlook in the US, we think the greenback will make further gains over the next year as …
14th November 2024
It is increasingly clear to us that pricing in all three regions we forecast has bottomed, even if appraisals are yet to reflect that in mainland Europe and the US. And although we expect recent events – the election of Donald Trump and the recent UK …
President-elect Trump’s distaste for trade deficits surely does not extend to worrying about the US’s large-scale import of carbon emissions through trade flows. The global imbalance between importers and exporters of CO 2 emissions is likely to shrink …
The UK is not as exposed to US import tariffs as many other economies and we suspect any resulting reduction in UK GDP would be very small. That said, the car and pharmaceutical sectors are the most vulnerable areas of the UK economy. And we don’t think …
We wouldn’t read much into the recent contraction in swap spreads in Germany. Despite turning negative, the 10-year euro-zone OIS/Bund spread is not far below its level before the pandemic. And it remains well above 10-year US OIS/Treasury and 10-year …
While Trump has vowed to lower mortgage rates to 3%, we expect the net effect of his policies to have the opposite effect, keeping borrowing costs higher for longer. With that in mind, we are changing our home sales forecast to show a shallower and later …
Donald Trump’s re-election has changed perceptions of how the war in Ukraine will develop, with many hoping for a quicker end to the conflict. This Update looks at how the war might evolve and the economic implications for Russia and Ukraine, for Europe …
Our forecast that Bank Rate will fall slower means that we now think mortgage rates will decline from 4.4% now to 3.9% by the end of 2026, rather than to 3.5%. But we still think that mortgage rates will fall by more than most expect and that house price …
We think investors are now overestimating how tight Brazil’s central bank will keep policy over the coming years, so we expect local-currency bond yields there to fall by end-2025. Still, fiscal concerns may keep yields high by past standards and we …
The strength of prime office rent growth in Europe in recent years has surprised forecasters, however there is broad agreement that rental growth will slow next year. We share that view, but are less pessimistic than most about the extent of the slowdown. …
Improvement in housing market sentiment may be overdone October’s RICS survey points to robust house price growth but the Budget means that mortgages rates will probably fall a bit slower than we previously thought, which will restrain house prices next …
If Donald Trump follows through on his threat to impose a high sector-specific tariff on European cars, German firms could suffer a big reduction in exports, deepening the crisis in the sector and adding another headwind to economic growth. That would be …
13th November 2024
We argued 18 months ago that the sharp rise in unsecured lending left India’s financial sector at risk of rising defaults, and anecdotal evidence suggests that this risk is materialising. The chances of a full-blown banking crisis in India are low, but a …
Our base case is that the LDP/Komeito coalition will be able to push through major pieces of legislation, including a supplementary budget by year-end, with only minor concessions to the Democratic Party for the People. If the DPP insists on its radical …
It seems likely that the US will step up sanctions enforcement on Iran’s oil trade, though the oil market should be able to absorb this. The much greater risk for oil prices is a more dramatic shift in the pro-Israel/anti-Iran stance that broadens the …
12th November 2024
The recent floods in Spain have inflicted huge personal and financial costs. But in terms of GDP, the effect is likely to be quite small as the temporary loss in activity will probably be offset by increased government expenditure. Similarly, while the …
The deterioration in Colombia’s public finances has spooked investors and, with the government showing no clear willingness to rein in spending, Colombian financial assets are likely to remain under pressure. One implication is that the fiscal situation …
The environment of higher US Treasury yields and a stronger dollar that we think will accompany a second Trump administration is one that, historically, has been associated with crises in EMs with large macro imbalances. The good news is that currency …
South Africa’s mining sector has been a struggling part of the economy for some time and, while easing logistical and electricity constraints will provide some relief, weaker commodity prices in the coming years will hold back any recovery. The sector …
Today’s fiscal announcement was far smaller and less detailed than many had hoped for. The explanation, we think, is that China’s leadership sees less need for stimulus than most commentators (we’re with the leadership on this). Its priority instead seems …
8th November 2024
Residential’s growing share of investor portfolios speaks to the buzz around its potential to keep providing outsized returns. But will the sector continue to deliver? Join our Commercial Real Estate team for a special online briefing all about the …
As expected, after a run of stronger activity and inflation data since it started its rate cutting cycle with a 50bp reduction in mid-September, the Fed opted for a more modest 25bp cut at the conclusion of its two-day FOMC meeting, taking the fed funds …
7th November 2024
Mexico is one of the most vulnerable economies to the policies that US President-elect Trump flagged on the campaign trail. This Update looks at the channels through which it could be affected. One key point in all of this is that policymakers don’t have …
We have revised some of our key market forecasts in response to Donald Trump’s victory and the news that the Republicans are on course to regain full control of Congress. These include higher projections for the 10-year Treasury yield and the greenback. …
Watch a recording of our post-MPC online briefing here . While cutting interest rates from 5.00% to 4.75% today, the Bank of England implied that the Budget means rates will continue to fall only gradually. We agree and due to the Budget (and not the US …
The collapse of its coalition government, triggered by disagreement over fiscal policy, means Germany will probably have a CDU-led government by mid-2025. This may be more stable and functional than the outgoing coalition, but would face the same …
Today’s 50bp cut is likely to be the only one in the cycle for the Riksbank, and we expect it to cut by just 25bp at its next two meetings to take the policy rate to its “terminal” level of 2.25% in January. This is less than the four cuts that market …
COP29 – which is set to kick off in Baku next week – has been dubbed the ‘finance COP’ given that the top priority for negotiators will be to agree on a new climate finance pledge. However, Trump’s election victory looms large over the event and adds to …
Alongside its decision to leave interest rates unchanged today, Norges Bank reiterated that it expects to remain on hold in December too. It is likely to start cutting in Q1 next year and we suspect that it will then loosen policy a little more quickly …
The recent weakness in productivity growth is only partly due to a cyclical hangover from the pandemic as it also reflects the structural weakness in investment. With investment growth set to remain mediocre, productivity growth will remain lacklustre …
Large US tariffs would hurt China’s export sector but less than many suppose. We estimate that the direct impact of even a 60% US tariff on goods from China would be well under 1% of China’s GDP . The bigger challenge for policymakers could be the …
Negative natural gas prices at a few trading hubs in West Texas, including the Waha Hub, have curiously become the norm this year. This Update looks at five key questions on the topic. 1) Why have natural gas prices at the Waha Hub been getting so much …
6th November 2024
Data released last week showed that the euro-zone’s unemployment rate was unchanged at a record low in September. But a broader assessment of the labour market suggests that it is cooling, and the latest surveys suggest that it will continue to do so. …
5th November 2024
Inflation figures out of Turkey – including those published for October yesterday – have surprised on the upside and forward-looking indicators suggest that the disinflation process will be slow in the coming months too. Consensus expectations for the …
With inflation falling back further in October, growth struggling and the property market in the doldrums, the conditions are in place for the Bank of Korea to cut interest rates again soon. We think the consensus is wrong to rule out the prospect of a …
Although the Reserve Bank of Australia maintained a broadly neutral stance at its meeting today, we still think it will start to lower interest rates as soon as February next year. However, with the labour market remaining resilient and productivity …
OPEC+’s latest delay to its long-held plans to raise output will have a marginal impact on oil supply over 2025. We still suspect that OPEC+’s most likely course of action is to gradually increase output in 2025. However, the risks of a more aggressive …
4th November 2024
While the latest PMIs suggest that global industry started Q4 on a slightly better footing, the outlook for the manufacturing sector remains poor, especially in advanced economies. Meanwhile, although the big fall in DM goods inflation is now behind us, …
Despite the tick-up in the EM manufacturing PMI in October, manufacturing activity appears to have remained soft and we think this will be the case over the rest of the year. The surveys suggest that goods price pressures were contained last month, but …
The rise in Brazilian local currency government bond yields this year is now on a scale similar to that seen during its fiscal crisis in 2015. Back then, bond yields only started to fall back when wholesale political change was on the horizon. That’s not …
We expect interest rates to be cut to around the equilibrium of 3% or so in the US, UK and Australia. But rates in the euro-zone and Canada seem likely to fall below their equilibria next year, troughing at 1.5% and 2%, respectively. This judgement …
Euro-zone investment has been weak since the pandemic. And despite the recent downward revision to our ECB interest rate forecasts, we don’t think it will pick up substantially, given the sluggish outlook for both economic growth and the competitiveness …
1st November 2024
The October PMIs from Asia remained weak and while the PMI surveys aren’t always a good guide to the hard activity data, their recent signals are consistent with our expectation for manufacturing activity in Asia to struggle in the near term, price …
