US Fed Watch Fed close to embarking on return to normality With the labour market still evidently on fire in February, we expect the FOMC statement next Wednesday to omit the language that the Fed can be "patient" in beginning to normalise monetary policy... 11th March 2015 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Real rates to stay higher in the euro-zone than in US & Japan The ECB started its quantitative easing programme this week and the US Fed is likely to begin tightening policy in June. Nonetheless, we expect real interest rates to remain higher in the euro-zone... 10th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Chart Pack A temporary surge in house price growth The CoreLogic measure of house prices surged by a seasonally-adjusted 1.4% m/m in January, the largest monthly gain in almost two years. This acceleration appears to have been caused by the tightness... 10th March 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Additional interest rate cuts still in the pipeline The Bank of Canada's decision to hold rates unchanged at 0.75% last week will have convinced some that there isn't another rate cut in the pipeline. Nevertheless, we still think we could see another... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Payrolls data are not all bad news Most commodity prices fell this week even before the strong US payrolls data raised expectations of early Fed tightening and further dollar strength. While recognising that both developments have... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Why haven’t households spent their gasoline windfall? With the overall economy in good shape, it is only a matter of time before households start to spend more of the cash freed up by the plunge in gasoline prices. Indeed, in recent years households have... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response International Trade & Building Permits (Jan.) The jump in Canada's trade deficit to a two-and-a-half year high of $2.5bn in January, from $1.2bn, was principally due to a price-related 23% m/m drop in the value of crude oil exports. 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response Employment Report (Feb.) The 295,000 increase in payroll employment in February (consensus forecast 235,000) and the further fall in the unemployment rate to 5.5% illustrate that, even if wage growth is still subdued, the Fed... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Energy Data Response US Weekly Petroleum Status Report US oil stocks increase by the largest amount in over a decade, but fears about storage capacity constraints seem overdone. 4th March 2015 · 1 min read
Energy Update What impact would an Iran-US nuclear deal have on oil prices? A deal between Iran and the West which allows for the removal of sanctions on Iranian oil exports is looking more likely. However, as always, the devil is in the detail. The most likely scenario in... 4th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Applications (Feb.) The rise in mortgage rates put a dampener on mortgage applications in February. However, with affordability set to remain favourable and the wider economy growing strongly, mortgage volumes and home... 4th March 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response GDP (Q4 2014) The 2.4% annualised gain in fourth-quarter GDP looks encouraging enough, but this is merely the calm before the storm. 3rd March 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response CoreLogic House Prices (Jan.) A surge in house price inflation in January could be the start of a temporary period of faster price growth, caused by tighter supply conditions and the strength of the wider economy. But with housing... 3rd March 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response ISM Manuf. Index (Feb.), Income & Spending (Jan.) The economic data released today suggest that first-quarter GDP growth should be between 2.5% and 3.0% annualised , which is a little lower than we previously envisaged. 2nd March 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Outlook for metals brightening Metals prices have shown some of the largest gains in the past week, benefitting from some better news on the global economy including stronger manufacturing PMI surveys in China and the euro-zone... 27th February 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Bank of Canada will still cut rates further Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz signalled last week that he thought the January interest rate cut was enough insurance against downside risks for the time being. That confirmed our existing view... 27th February 2015 · 1 min read
