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Global goods trade rose slightly in May, but timelier data point to a renewed fall in June. And as spending patterns continue to normalise away from goods towards services at the same time as higher interest rates start to bite, it will probably be …
28th July 2023
The Bank of Japan announced today that it will allow 10-year yields to rise above the 0.5% ceiling – which it says it is retaining – to a new “just-in-case” cap of 1.0%. With signs mounting of a virtuous cycle between inflation and wages, the chances of …
Real household incomes falling at rapid pace Data released last week underline that Japanese households are struggling to cope with rising living costs. While labour income rose at a robust pace, a slump in government transfer payments resulted in a 1.6% …
The Bank of Japan announced today that it will allow 10-year yields to rise to 1.0% instead of the current ceiling of 0.5%. We still think that a slowdown in inflation will convince the Bank to keep its short-term policy rate unchanged over the coming …
The big news out of Australia this week was that both headline and trimmed-mean inflation in Q2 were lower than most had anticipated. However, we still think it’s too soon for the RBA to declare victory in the war on inflation. After all, services …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Retail sales soften anew The sharp decline in retail sales in June suggests that sales volumes fell for a third consecutive quarter in Q2. With the RBA sounding increasingly …
This article has been updated with additional charts and analysis since it was first published. Upside risks to our services inflation forecasts Headline inflation was unchanged in Tokyo this month, but a jump in services inflation helped power a renewed …
The latest RICS survey signalled a slight improvement in occupier and investment sentiment in Q2, but confidence remained low by historic standards. Tight credit conditions and a poor economic backdrop in the second half of this year suggest sentiment …
27th July 2023
We expect the July employment report to show a continued gradual slowdown in employment growth and a decline in wage growth to a two-year low. That should give Fed officials a little more confidence that the moderation in core inflation will continue. The …
Economy shrugs off impact of higher rates The 2.4% annualised gain in second-quarter real GDP growth, which means the economy expanded at close to its potential pace over the first half of the year, suggests that higher interest rates are having …
25bps hike and peak in sight Reverting to a 25bps hike rather than 50bps Rate hikes may come to a halt a bit sooner than most analysts and investors expect After a lengthy pause, rates to fall further than investors expect in late 2024 and in 2025 We’ll …
As everyone expected, the Fed increased its policy rate by an additional 25bp today, taking the fed funds target range to between 5.25% and 5.50% but, while officials are possibly still eyeing one final hike later this year, futures markets are mostly …
26th July 2023
Policy rate now at peak, as disinflation will persuade Fed to stand pat in September As everyone expected, the Fed increased its policy rate by an additional 25bp today, taking the fed funds target range to between 5.25% and 5.50% but, while officials are …
The sky-high valuations of some touted winners from AI have given rise to claims that their share prices have risen to unsustainably high levels. Is there anything we can learn from the dot com era? The best-performing stock in the S&P 500 in the …
The continued rise in the valuations of “risky” assets relative to “safe” ones mostly seems to reflect growing confidence in the economic outlook. We think that optimism will be disappointed and that risk premia may rise again – and valuations may fall – …
Total returns were negative again in Q2 at -2.0% q/q. This was dragged down by the office sector, where values fell by 7% and quarterly returns were -5.8%, with all other sectors outperforming the all-property number. Nevertheless, we still think office …
Comparing the proper inflation gauges reveals that core inflation in Japan remains far lower than elsewhere. And with most of the recent pick-up in core inflation reflecting soaring imports costs, the Bank of Japan’s assessment that above-target inflation …
Economic activity slowing and inflation weakening faster than anticipated However, labour market still very tight and services inflation still accelerating Bank to hike to 4.35% next week, but September rate hike is a close call With inflation …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. RBA will deliver at least one more rate hike The faster-than-expected slowdown in inflation in Q2 may convince the RBA that it has done enough to rein in price pressures. …
Our forecast that in late 2024 and 2025 the Bank of England will cut interest rates further than investors expect suggests that UK gilt yields will fall and close the current gap with US yields. Admittedly, there’s still a risk that inflation in the UK …
25th July 2023
The sharp rise in the share of the population with a disability may reflect the legacy of the pandemic. But with the rise in disability rates doing little to keep people out of work, it isn’t necessarily a problem for the economy. According to the …
Overview – Global inflation has almost halved since September last year and this trend has further to run. Admittedly, the fall in headline inflation so far mainly reflects the drag from lower energy price inflation, which has almost run its course. But …
House prices rose again in May House prices rose for the fourth consecutive month in May according to Case-Shiller. The resurgence in prices has coincided with an uptick in home sales from February to May, in turn driven by a moderation in mortgage rates. …
Analysts are split on whether the BoE will repeat June’s 50bps rate hike at the August meeting or revert to the 25bps hikes now favoured by the Fed and the ECB. And the release of the BoE’s new Monetary Policy Report will provide some clues to just how …
July’s flash PMIs suggest that activity slowed further at the start of Q3. Industry remains the weak spot, but the outlook for the services sector has also deteriorated noticeably. And while this seems to be weighing somewhat on employment growth and …
24th July 2023
Strong immigration and the turnaround in the housing market raise the chance that the economy will avoid recession but, with the Bank of Canada back in hiking mode, we still judge that GDP will contract later this year. Even if recession is avoided, a …
New home construction has been surprisingly resilient to weaker demand so far this year. But that partly reflects activity being brought forward before building standards were tightened in June. With that boost now over and survey data indicating a …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Note: Join our special online briefing after the Fed and ECB’s July decisions, and previewing the BoE’s August meeting, at 10:00 EDT/15:00 BST on Thursday 27 th July . Register …
Japan bulls have proposed a range of explanations to justify the outperformance of the TOPIX relative to other equity indices over recent months. While there are some signs that firms are enjoying stronger pricing power, we aren’t convinced that a …
Note: Join our Asia Drop-In on whether China is in a balance sheet recession, the July BOJ meeting and more at 09:00 BST/16:00 SGT on Thursday, 27 th July . Register here . This article has been updated with additional analysis and charts since it was …
The US dollar has rebounded over the past two days and looks set to unwind much of last week’s fall. (See Chart 1.) With US data somewhat mixed, much of this rebound in the greenback seems to have been driven by a reassessment of the outlook for other …
21st July 2023
Headline inflation fell to 2.8% in June and, excluding mortgage interest costs, was in line with the 2.0% target. While the Bank’s preferred core measures are still higher, the weakness of retail sales in May and June suggests demand is easing and is …
The Fed is almost certain to hike its policy rate by 25bp to between 5.25% and 5.50% at next week’s FOMC meeting, but we increasingly believe that will prove to be the peak. Despite the ‘higher for longer’ rhetoric from officials, a more marked decline …
Despite the fall in CPI inflation from 8.7% in May to 7.9% in June (see here ), the UK is still lumbered with an inflation rate that is 1.4 percentage points (ppts) higher than in the euro-zone. And at 4.8ppt, the gap between UK and US CPI inflation …
Demand not looking so excessive after all Retail sales volumes were little changed in May and the preliminary estimate implies that they dropped back in June. That calls into question the Bank of Canada’s recent claim about “persistent excess demand” and …
The Treasury yield curve has been inverted for a long time by past standards, but we think it could remain so until next year even if there’s a recession in the interim. At the start of this month, it briefly looked as though the beginning of the end of …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Unexpected borrowing undershoot as receipts rise sharply Note: Join our special online briefing after the Fed and ECB’s July decisions, and previewing the BoE’s August meeting, …
New Zealand inflation looks sticky CPI data published on Wednesday revealed that New Zealand’s consumer prices rose by 1.1% q/q in Q2, only slightly below the 1.2% quarterly rise in Q1. Nonetheless, favourable base effects meant that annual inflation fell …
Note: Join our Asia Drop-In on whether China is in a balance sheet recession, the July BOJ meeting and more at 09:00 BST/16:00 SGT on Thursday, 27 th July . Register here . Tax revenue disappoints According to the Bank of Japan’s flow of funds accounts, …
Bank will revise up 2023 inflation forecast Early signs that virtuous cycle between wages and prices has finally arrived However, widening of tolerance band would risk renewed bond market sell-off At the upcoming meeting, the Bank of Japan will revise …
This article has been updated with additional charts and analysis since it was first published Inflation should fall back towards target through year-end Electricity tariff hikes that went into effect last month led to a rise in headline inflation. …
As the second quarter US reporting season gets into full swing, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture: the peak-to-trough drawdown in earnings per share (EPS) from last year has not only been smaller than typically seen in an economic downturn, but …
20th July 2023
Sales fall back toward January lows Existing home sales edged lower, dropping by 3.3% m/m to 4,160,000 annualised in June. That decline takes sales back towards the low of 4.0m recorded in January. And despite a marginal pickup in mortgage applications …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication . Labour market continues full steam ahead With the labour market still running red hot, we think the Reserve Bank of Australia has more work to do. Accordingly, we’re sticking …
This article has been updated with additional charts and analysis since it was first published Exports picking up but downturn still on the cards The trade deficit narrowed in June as export values rose faster than import values, largely reflecting the …
Despite today’s big reaction in markets in the UK to better-than-expected inflation news , we still think investors are overestimating the peak in interest rates there and underestimating how much monetary policy will be eased in 2024 and beyond. Indeed, …
19th July 2023
25bp rate hike next week likely to be the last, with rates peaking at 5.25%-5.50% Run of better inflation data to convince Fed to scrap plans for further hikes Falling inflation and weaker economy will see rates cut to 3.25%-3.50% by end-24 Fed officials …
Single-family starts fell from previous month’s highs, but remain strong Single-family starts fell back from their 11-month high in June, but remained substantially above the average seen in 2023 thus far as homebuilders remained optimistic. However with …