China Data Response Activity & Spending (May) Another disappointing batch of activity data in May reinforces our view that growth will probably weaken a bit more this quarter. With consumer and business sentiment likely to sour further as the... 14th June 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update What impact will African Swine Fever have on EMs? African Swine Fever has already pushed inflation in China up markedly and, if the disease spreads further, it could also add around 0.3%-pts to inflation in parts of Asia and Eastern Europe. The... 13th June 2019 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Investors’ trade war focus risks missing bigger picture Investors seem as pessimistic about the US-China trade war now as they have ever been. Indeed, it would probably come as little surprise to markets if the two sides imposed tariffs on virtually all... 13th June 2019 · 1 min read
China Data Response Bank Lending & Broad Credit (May) Credit growth remained broadly stable in May. Policy easing has not yet been effective in generating a sustained pick-up in credit growth and is one of the reasons why we don’t expect a strong... 12th June 2019 · 1 min read
China Data Response Consumer & Producer Prices (May) Headline inflation was once again boosted by a sharp rise in pork prices in May. But with core inflation declining to a three-year low, it is clear that demand-side pressures on prices remain muted. 12th June 2019 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update US-China trade war prompts cuts to our forecasts We have now factored into our forecasts a ratcheting-up of trade tensions between the US and China over the next year. Given this, we have shaved our projections for the prices of some metals. However... 11th June 2019 · 1 min read
EM Valuations Monitor Valuations don’t make a compelling case for EM assets The valuations of EM assets are not particularly low, which is one reason why we expect EM financial markets to suffer along with those elsewhere as the global economy disappoints in the coming... 11th June 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Implications for oil of an escalation in the trade war We have now incorporated an escalation in the US-China trade war into our global economic forecasts. As it happens, we think that the negative impact on global GDP growth will be relatively contained... 10th June 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Little to cheer in China’s May trade data China’s commodity import volumes were subdued last month, which is consistent with our view of soft Chinese domestic demand and downward pressure on commodity prices. Moreover, while there was no... 10th June 2019 · 1 min read
China Data Response Trade (May) While exports rose in May, weaker global demand and the escalating trade war suggest that they will start to fall again before long. 10th June 2019 · 1 min read
China Economics Weekly Chances of lasting trade deal recede Uncompromising messages from Beijing this week suggest that China’s leaders have concluded that there in no prospect of a resolution to the trade war any time soon. Limits on China’s rare earth... 7th June 2019 · 8 mins read
Global Economics Update Escalation of trade war to raise hit to global GDP to 0.5% We have now incorporated a further escalation in the US-China trade war into our baseline forecasts. On its own, this is unlikely to have a major impact on global GDP growth. But combined with... 6th June 2019 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Factoring the escalating trade war into our forecasts We are now incorporating a further escalation in the trade war with China into our global forecasts. We think that will knock a few tenths off annual US GDP growth this year and next. Core PCE... 6th June 2019 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Preparing for a long trade war A deal to end the US-China trade dispute appears further away than ever. We now expect all US goods imports from China to be subject to a 25% tariff by early next year. China is likely to respond with... 6th June 2019 · 1 min read
Commodities Update China’s commodities demand looks weak Subdued survey data suggest that China’s economy is likely to soften this quarter, which underpins our generally bearish view on industrial commodities prices in the coming months. 3rd June 2019 · 1 min read
China Data Response Caixin Manufacturing PMI (May) The continued weakness in China’s activity surveys reinforces our view that economic growth is likely to soften this quarter and increases the likelihood of additional policy easing in the coming... 3rd June 2019 · 1 min read