Harry Truman’s quip about a recession being “when your neighbour loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose yours”, captures many of the difficulties in both identifying when these downturns hit, and how severe they can be. There are crucial …
20th November 2023
Milan prime office yields appear very low both compared to other alternative assets and other euro-zone countries. By any standards, office property there looks highly overvalued. But looking ahead, as rent growth trails elsewhere in the region, we expect …
Javier Milei’s victory in the final round of Argentina’s presidential election yesterday will bring about a major shift in economic policymaking. We suspect that some of his more radical proposals – namely dollarisation – may not materialise given limited …
Economic growth in Thailand picked up in the third quarter of the year and we expect the economy to record steady, if unspectacular growth over the coming quarters, helped by looser fiscal policy and a further recovery in the tourism sector. GDP growth …
Our China Activity Proxy (CAP) shows that the economy was still making headway last month, though it appears to have lost some steam. Downside risks continue to linger, particularly in the property sector. But we think policy support will keep the …
Markets are continuing to debate “recession or no recession” but, as Group Chief Economist Neil Shearing tells David Wilder in this latest episode, the debate is too binary and fails to take into account the different types of recession that the monetary …
17th November 2023
CBN poor communication harming credibility CBN Governor Cardoso’s press remarks this week highlighted his continued ambition to restore confidence in and the credibility of the Bank. But so far an action that would help – a clear strategy to stabilise the …
The dollar is ending the week on the back foot, with the DXY index on track for its worst week since July, after this week’s US CPI print came in softer than expected. That has reinforced the growing consensus that US inflation is on track back to target …
‘Growth’ stocks have held up well vis-à-vis ‘value’ stocks this year despite the surge in real yields. But relatively optimistic earnings expectations for growth stocks may prevent them from steaming ahead even if, as we expect, real yields fall further. …
Massa vs. Milei – the final round The final round of Argentina’s drawn-out presidential election process takes place on Sunday, pitching left-wing Peronist and current Economy Minister Sergio Massa against right-wing libertarian Javier Milei. The result …
Falling inflation prompts rate cut speculation Better inflation news prompts big market moves The release of the slightly-better-than-expected October CPI data earlier this week triggered a massive reaction in markets, with the two-year Treasury yield …
For the first time since the pandemic, the government will find itself with less fiscal room than expected when it provides an update of its plans next week. Accordingly, we doubt that the Fall Economic Statement will contain any major giveaways. Gloomy …
We’ll be discussing the UK macro and market consequences of the Chancellor’s Autumn statement at 10:00 EST/15:00 GMT on 22nd November. Register here for this 20-minute online briefing. The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will want to use next Wednesday’s Autumn …
Gold and silver prices soared this week on renewed optimism that the Fed had hiked to the peak of its monetary policy mountain. We expect prices to rise further when interest rates begin to be cut in the first half of next year. Oil prices were not …
Easing inflation and stronger shekel Data out of Israel for October this week suggest that the initial impact of the conflict with Hamas on the export sector was fairly limited, that inflation pressures continued to ease and that the chances of an …
Recent export resilience unlikely to last While the Q3 GDP release disappointed this week, there was some (qualified) good news in the October trade data. Although headline export growth slowed to 1.6% y/y, from 4.3% in September, a deceleration had been …
The emerging “goldilocks” narrative is a challenge to our forecast that the dollar will appreciate a bit over the coming months while the more cyclically sensitive currencies underperform, but we continue to think that the renewed optimism about the …
Starts continue to bounce back With homebuilders encouraged by the recent surge in buyers entering the new homes market due to a lack of existing inventory, housing starts and permits edged slightly higher in October. Total housing starts rose 1.9% m/m …
A German constitutional court ruling this week threatens to force the government to cut its planned climate-related expenditure by €60bn or 1.2% of GDP. The decision states that it was not lawful for the government to reallocate this un-used borrowing …
Back-to-back rate hikes unlikely Bank Indonesia surprised financial markets (and us) by hiking interest rates in October. But we don’t expect it to follow through with another hike at its scheduled meeting on Thursday. The main reason BI hiked last …
Developers retreating, LGFVs taking their place In remarks published by state media last weekend, China’s housing minister, Ni Hong, discussed plans to alter the country’s real estate development model, shifting the focus from quantity to quality. There …
While the US economy considerably outperformed its DM peers in Q3, we think that all advanced economies will suffer a weak Q4. High interest rates are weighing on credit growth, and a further rise in debt servicing costs in the coming quarters is likely …
Commodity imports boosting trade deficit The men’s cricket team are soaring on the pitch, while the monthly goods trade deficit is doing so off it. Data released this week showed that it hit an all-time high of $31.5bn in October. That surpassed the …
The US and China once again backed the G20 goal of tripling global renewable energy capacity this week (from 2020), a goal which would help to keep the path to net zero emissions by 2050 on track. However, the speed of the energy transition is uncertain, …
GDP figures for Malaysia published today confirmed that the economy rebounded strongly in the third quarter of the year. However, with interest rates set to remain elevated and exports likely to struggle, we doubt this strength will last. Today’s figures …
We believe that central banks in both Australia and New Zealand are done tightening policy. However, given that inflation is far from tamed in either country, policymakers are unlikely to drop their hawkish bias just yet. Although activity has proven …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Retail woes continued at the start of Q4, and further weakness to come The 0.3% m/m fall in retail sales volumes in October means that after contracting by 1.0% q/q (which was …
Spare capacity is opening up The ABS published a flurry of data this week, which prima facie suggest the labour market is still running red hot. Nevertheless, we remain confident in our decision to call time on the RBA’s tightening cycle . That’s largely …
With a lot of pessimism seemingly already priced in to China’s “risky” assets, we suspect a thawing in US/China relations could give them a boost. But we think their longer-term outlook is less rosy. Meanwhile, we don’t think US/China tensions will have …
House price declines likely to worsen The fall in new listings in October may ease some concerns about forced home sales but, with the sales-to-new listing ratio declining again, it is still likely that the pace of house price declines will accelerate. …
16th November 2023
A thawing in China/US tensions could, in our view, help “risky” assets in China for a while by reducing the “China risk premium” that seems to have emerged. But we doubt it would fully reverse the recent underperformance of China’s equity markets relative …
Sovereign debt risks across Frontier Markets have eased slightly since last quarter. But dollar-bond spreads in Ethiopia have jumped following its request for debt-service suspension earlier this week. And we think that the risk of default over the coming …
Recent developments will have given policymakers at Norges Bank food for thought ahead of December’s interest rate decision. While we had initially rejected the central bank’s guidance that it would hike once more, we now think three key upside risks have …
Europe Commercial Property Chart Pack (Q4 2023) …
Output temporarily depressed by UAW strike The 0.7% m/m decline in manufacturing output in October was entirely due to the now-resolved UAW strike, which translated into a temporary 10.0% m/m fall in motor vehicle output. With the UAW securing lucrative …
Saudi’s new Civil Code another step to attract FDI In a month’s time, Saudi Arabia’s new Civil Code will come into force in a bid to further entice foreign investors to the Kingdom, but more is required to hit Vision 2030 targets. The Civil Code contains …
While the world’s major central banks now appear to have ended their tightening cycles, we think the Riksbank will raise its policy rate by 25bp again next week, to 4.25%, because of the strength of domestic inflation and weakness of the krona. And we now …
During the past decade, the global economy has transitioned out of an era in which globalisation was the key driver of economic and financial relationships into one shaped by geopolitics. Previously, most governments had believed that closer economic …
Israel holds up well in Q3, but sharp drop coming in Q4 The slight slowdown in Israeli GDP growth to 2.8% q/q annualised in Q3 was more or less in line with expectations but comes before a likely sharp drop in Q4 amid the impact of the war with Hamas. …
Surging interest rates have not been kind to commercial property investment activity, which recently slumped to a 10-year low. But there are some reasons to think transactions will see a decent, if not spectacular, recovery in 2024. Falling interest rates …
Rates on hold, tightening cycle at an end The central bank in the Philippines (BSP) today left its main policy rate unchanged (at 6.50%), but warned it remained ready to raise interest rates further if necessary. However, with inflation likely to ease …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. The rise in unemployment has further to run Although jobs growth gained momentum in October, a renewed uptick in the unemployment rate should ensure that the RBA doesn’t feel the …
Growing external and domestic headwinds suggest to us that Brazilian financial markets will come under pressure over the short term and are unlikely to resume their outperformance beyond that. Brazilian assets have fared relatively well amid the ongoing …
15th November 2023
We expect growth to slow and inflation to drop to central bank targets in major DMs in 2024. But the latest business expectations surveys on the face of it suggest that the risks to our forecasts are tilted towards activity and inflation being more …
Investors seem to be banking on a “Goldilocks” US economic environment which, if sustained, might lead to bull markets for most bonds, equities, and currencies. But we think this is a bit optimistic. Financial markets are having a great time since the …
Economy overheating, central bank has more work to do The rise in Russian GDP growth to 5.5% y/y in Q3 was larger than expected and adds to evidence that the economy continued to overheat last quarter. With fiscal policy set to loosen further and …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication . Struggling for momentum The softer-than-expected 0.2% q/q rise in Colombian GDP in Q3, coming alongside signs that the economy was weakening towards the end of the quarter, …
Measures of cross-asset volatility and risk premia suggest that investors are increasingly discounting a fairly rosy market environment over the coming months. This leaves them at risk of disappointment if, as remains our central forecast, the US economy …
November’s IPF Consensus Survey showed that, although euro-zone office rental growth is expected to slow next year, forecasts remained unchanged on average from the May survey. In contrast, given the ongoing deterioration in office leasing and the weak …
