PBOC responds to leadership's call for more easing The PBOC has lowered its short-term policy rate for the first time since last summer, in line with our expectation for a cut this quarter. Its efforts to prevent long-term yields from falling therefore do …
22nd July 2024
After his disastrous debate performance, President Joe Biden has dropped out of the race to be re-elected in this November’s election. His withdrawal letter acknowledges Vice President Kamala Harris as “an extraordinary partner in all this” and, in a …
21st July 2024
The US dollar has bounced back over the past couple of days as interest rate expectations in the US have rebounded a little and the risk-off shift in equities bled into currency markets. While the Japanese yen has given back some of its …
19th July 2024
Nigeria: yet more spending…. Nigeria announced this week that it needs to raise its 2024 budget spending again, which will be funded by a windfall tax on banks. But efforts are needed to permanently boost revenues if Nigeria’s public finances aren’t to be …
In the latest episode of The Weekly Briefing from Capital Economics, Chief Global Economist Jennifer McKeown speaks about the macroeconomic implications of the global IT outage before going on to explain what’s happening to the world inflation and …
Despite some measures of monthly core price growth remaining above the rates consistent with 2% inflation, the June CPI release on the whole supported the case for another interest rate cut from the Bank of Canada next week. Downward trend in inflation …
GDP breakdown points to weaker services activity The lower-than-expected Q2 GDP figures released earlier this week suggest that China’s economy has lost some momentum recently. The detailed sectoral breakdown, published a day after the headline data, …
Shelter disinflation adds to case for September rate cut Fed officials back September rate cut In comments ahead of the pre-July FOMC blackout that begins this weekend, Fed officials appeared open to a September rate cut. On Monday, Chair Jerome Powell …
The global IT outages affecting Windows software are causing huge temporary disruption to certain sectors including travel and healthcare, but while things are still very uncertain we do not anticipate a major macroeconomic or financial market impact at …
We expect Japan’s stock market to continue to struggle in yen terms, but to fare better in US dollar terms over the rest of the year. Asian equities have succumbed to the sell-off in global tech stocks this week. But in Japan’s case, the strengthening yen …
The weaker-than-expected economic activity data for China in Q2 weighed on industrial metals prices early in the week. The mood was further darkened by the lack of any specific stimulus announcements at the Third Plenum and resulted in most industrial …
Argentina: falling back into old habits? While it was a good week for Argentine football – the Albiceleste won the Copa America for a second consecutive time – the opposite was the case for Argentine financial assets. Sovereign dollar bonds and the Merval …
Donald Trump says he can end the war in Ukraine in a day if he’s re-elected this November. What are the implications for economies and markets if he wins in November and makes good on his pledge to bring the two-and-a-half year old conflict to a …
The detailed breakdown of June inflation data, released this week, confirmed that the headline rate ticked down to 2.5% in June and that services inflation was unchanged at 4.1%. We, and ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane, had thought that services inflation …
Cracks in consumption getting larger After a brief rebound in April, the renewed fall in retail sales volumes in May suggests that consumption growth is weakening again. We estimate that sales volumes fell by around 1% annualised in the second quarter, …
Given the UK recently got much closer to the government’s target of building 300,000 homes a year than is acknowledged, you might think that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill announced in the King’s Speech this week would be enough to get new home …
External positions in good health ... Romania aside Balance of payments data released across the region this week showed that current account positions generally deteriorated in May. Poland recorded a monthly deficit of €63m, while Czechia had an external …
Slowdown in growth over the coming quarters The highlight of the coming week is the publication of the first estimate of Korean GDP growth for Q2. Korea’s economy rebounded strongly in the first quarter of the year, with growth hitting 1.3% q/q, which …
After a roller-coaster ride over the past couple of years, we think euro-zone retail sales are likely to rise gradually in the coming quarters. Consumption has recovered a long way following the disruption caused by the pandemic and the energy price …
Full Budget a key test for new government For India watchers, the Union Budget announcement on Tuesday 23 rd July will be one of the key economic events this year. In election years, the Union Budget takes place later than normal and often contains new …
Sales surprisingly weak given supportive backdrop The unexpectedly large fall in retail sales in June reversed the jump in May, and suggests that rising real incomes and improving sentiment have so far failed to translate into a significant increase in …
Mof intervenes again All signs are that Japan’s government sold US dollars to support the yen on Thursday and Friday last week. Bank of Japan data suggest that the intervention was a bit smaller than previous ones, perhaps because the yen was already …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Limited wiggle room for the new Chancellor June’s disappointing public finances figures suggest that public borrowing is on track to come in a little higher than the OBR’s …
China’s bond market seems to be caught between the country’s slowing economy and the PBOC’s desire to push long-end yields higher. The announcements from the Third Plenum this week probably won’t help the central bank, and we still think yields will fall …
GDP growth accelerated sharply the second quarter but, with a jump in inflation set to curtail consumer spending and the boost from tourism likely to fade, we still expect a sharp slowdown in the coming quarters. According to the advanced estimate …
A policy pivot is imminent If the RBNZ had any doubts that it had broken the back of inflation, they will have been quashed by the slew of weaker-than-expected data releases this week. Accordingly, we’re bringing forward our forecast for the Bank’s first …
This website has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Inflation will remain above target until early-2025 While the Bank of Japan will still see the July Tokyo CPI before its meeting later this month, the June nationwide figures …
The South African Reserve Bank’s decision to leave its repo rate unchanged at 8.25% was of little surprise but there was increased optimism on the MPC that inflation is moving towards the 4.5% mid-point of the target and that inflation expectations are …
18th July 2024
Investors’ expectations for ECB rate cuts have not changed much over recent months and today’s meeting did little to change that. Instead, euro-zone assets have been influenced more by French politics of late; and while contagion concerns have eased, we …
With the share of non-performing CMBS loans on the rise, and plenty of loans set to refinance onto a higher rate this year, recent data provide further evidence that distress will rise both this year and next as we expected. However, while there is still …
The Chinese Communist Party’s Third Plenum ended with a much-anticipated pledge to continue “comprehensively deepening reform”. But what reforms and how far will they go to tackle China’s deep-rooted economic problems? Our China team hosted this special …
Today’s decisions to leave interest rates on hold and give no clear signals about the future path of interest rates were in line with expectations. The overall tone was arguably slightly dovish, making a September cut more likely. But the risks to our …
SARB holds interest rates but cut now likely in September The South African Reserve Bank decision to leave its repo rate unchanged at 8.25% was of little surprise but there was increased optimism that inflation is moving towards the 4.5% mid-point of the …
Trump sets out his stall for warmer Saudi ties Donald Trump has outlined his intentions to improve relations with Saudi Arabia if he wins re-election. But potential tensions over the handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict mean that, for now, Saudi officials …
No cut, no guidance Today’s decisions to leave interest rates on hold and give no clear signals about the future path of interest rates was in line with expectations. A cut in September still seems more likely than not, but it will depend on whether …
The latest polls suggest that the opposition is on track to win Venezuela’s election later this month but President Maduro is likely to do all he can to cling on to power. If he manages to do so, Venezuela’s nascent economic recovery would be nipped in …
Newfound political stability in the UK contrasts with the now more uncertain political backdrop in France. A better relative outlook for economic growth and risk-free rates had already led to a narrowing in the premium on UK over French property in recent …
EM recoveries have been stronger than expected this year, but growth in aggregate will slow over the coming quarters. Within this there will be regional variation, with Emerging Asia the outperformer and Latin America the laggard. While we still expect …
China’s leadership has promised to continue comprehensively deepening reform in a wide range of areas. But there are few signs that the just concluded Third Plenum marks a major change in the direction of policymaking. And there still appears to be a …
The latest data out of Emerging Europe suggest that economic growth in Central Europe strengthened further in Q2, while Russia’s economy continued to overheat. In Turkey there are signs that demand may be beginning to moderate in response to policy …
While the global monetary policy loosening cycle is now well underway, there is more nuance than you might assume. Recent data have made us more confident that cuts (or further cuts) are to come in the US and Canada. But in Australia, the UK and large …
DM central banks may not be done raising rates – a too-hot Australian Q2 inflation report on 31 st July could push the RBA to hike at its meeting the following week. Our ANZ and Markets teams still think there’s a case for the Bank to hold, and they …
The policy shift underway in Nigeria has kept economic growth subdued – something that continued in Q2 according to the latest PMI and confidence data. Tight monetary policy will still remain a constraint on the economy. But with inflation soon set to …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Encouraging, but interest rates may not be cut in August While the easing in wage growth in May was broadly in line with what the consensus and the Bank of England expected, it …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. A loosening labour market should forestall further rate hikes Although job growth remained healthy last month, it didn’t prevent the unemployment rate from rising anew. And we …
Totality of the data supports another cut Downside risks to activity rising, upside risks to inflation falling Bank to cut interest rates by 25bp at each meeting until 2.50% Despite stronger core price pressures in May and June, the totality of the data …
17th July 2024
A recent surge in the Russell 2000 after the US CPI report for June was published last week has prompted claims that we are entering the initial stage of a secular rotation into US small-cap stocks. We are not convinced, for four reasons. First, what has …
Yields look to have topped out in most sectors and alongside solid rental growth that means capital values are close to bottoming out. However, with no yield compression in sight the recovery will be weak by past standards, not helped by a struggling …
Gold jewellery demand has been highly sensitive to price changes in the past and so will come under pressure from the current backdrop of record high gold prices. Income growth in key markets will offset some of the demand destruction. But jewellery …
Japan’s intervention in support of the yen is not enough in itself to generate a sustained rebound in the yen. But with the FOMC (finally) nearing its first rate cut while the BoJ continues to tighten its policy stance gradually, we think the tide is now …
