Commodities Update Commodity prices to struggle in the next few months The key message from the latest China PMIs is that whilst China’s economy is likely to grow strongly this quarter, momentum is fading. This will be one factor weighing on commodity prices in the near... 4th May 2023 · 2 mins read
Japan Economics Update Wage growth stronger than official figures suggest The slowdown in regular earnings at the start of the year largely reflects sampling changes, with an unchanged sample of firms reporting continued strong wage growth. However, with inflation set to... 4th May 2023 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia International Trade (Mar. 2023) The widening of the trade surplus in recent months belies the negligible contribution that net exports will have made to Q1 GDP. Indeed, we think the weakness in import values last quarter primary... 4th May 2023 · 2 mins read
China Rapid Response PMIs (Apr.) The latest survey data add to wider evidence that while China’s recovery remains robust, it is losing some momentum. In particular, the manufacturing PMIs fell below 50, suggesting that the reopening... 4th May 2023 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Rapid Response Australia International Trade (Mar. 23) 4th May 2023 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia: Surprise hike, but further tightening unlikely Malaysia’s central bank (BNM) unexpectedly raised its main policy rate (OPR) today by 25bps (to 3.0%), citing the resilient economy as grounds to “further normalise the degree of monetary... 3rd May 2023 · 3 mins read
India Data Response PMI Surveys (Apr.) India’s manufacturing and services PMI readings rose in April but are at odds with the hard activity data that point to more subdued domestic and external demand. 3rd May 2023 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Retail Sales (Mar.) While retail sales values rose at a decent pace in March, we estimate that sales volumes fell the most since 2021’s lockdowns last quarter and that weakness has further to run. That in turn should... 3rd May 2023 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand Labour Market (Q1 2023) New Zealand’s labour market remained extremely tight last quarter, presenting upside risks to our forecast for a 25bp rate hike later this month. 3rd May 2023 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Rapid Response New Zealand Labour Market (Q1 2023) 2nd May 2023 · 2 mins read
Capital Daily Some lessons from the RBA and RBNZ for global yield curves We don’t think central bank hawkishness in major developed markets would necessarily push long-term yields up by much. 2nd May 2023 · 6 mins read
China Rapid Response Hong Kong GDP (Q1 Preliminary) Hong Kong’s GDP growth turned positive in Q1 after four consecutive quarters of decline. The economy rebounded more rapidly than anticipated, largely thanks to the swift return of foreign visitors as... 2nd May 2023 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Tightening cycle over but rate cuts only in Q2 2024 The Reserve Bank of Australia retained its tightening bias when it lifted the cash rate by 25bp at today’s meeting, but we suspect that it won’t raise interest rates any further over the coming months... 2nd May 2023 · 3 mins read
Japan Economics Focus What to do about Japan’s large corporate surplus? Japan’s large corporate sector surpluses are a key source of deflationary pressure. Corporate savings surged in the 1990s, primarily because net interest payments slumped, and have since remained... 2nd May 2023 · 16 mins read
