Commodities Update What can China’s equities tell us about commodities? We do not think that the latest slump in China’s equity prices will make a meaningful difference to the country’s commodity demand. However, it does suggest that investors are coming round to our long... 3rd July 2018 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Financial conditions tighten in key economies Argentina’s currency crisis has caused financial conditions there to tighten sharply in the past few months, and this is one reason why we expect the economy to fall into recession in the coming... 3rd July 2018 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Data Response CIPS/Markit Construction PMI (Jun.) Today’s CIPS/Markit Construction PMI suggests that the recovery in construction activity continued in June. Further, improvements in the future business conditions and new orders indices suggest that... 3rd July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Retail Sales (May) May’s euro-zone retail sales data were a little weaker than expected, but still imply that the consumer sector fared better in Q2 than in Q1. And looking ahead, we think that household spending will... 3rd July 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Plunging unemployment not enough for the BoJ The recent plunge in Japan’s jobless rate suggests that wage growth will pick up faster than we had been anticipating. But we suspect that unemployment is now close to a floor so wage growth may never... 3rd July 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Tighter monetary policy on the way in Sweden The Riksbank looks very likely to raise interest rates in December. We think that the Bank will then raise interest rates more quickly in 2019 and 2020 than investors expect, causing the krona to... 3rd July 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Data Response Whole Economy PMIs (Jun.) Last month’s PMI data for the Gulf provide further evidence that growth in non-oil sectors is strengthening, supported by higher oil prices and recent fiscal stimulus measures. Elsewhere, Egypt’s... 3rd July 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Turkey CPI (Jun.) The much stronger-than-expected rise in Turkish inflation in June, to 15.4% y/y, is likely to prompt the central bank to hike interest rates, perhaps by 100bp, at its meeting later this month. 3rd July 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update PMIs suggest most EMs weathering market turmoil The small rise in the emerging market manufacturing PMI last month provides an early sign that the turbulence in financial markets has not (yet) had much impact on aggregate economic activity. 2nd July 2018 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Surveys point to rebound in Q2, despite trade jitters Markit’s global manufacturing PMI slipped at the end of Q2 but remains consistent with a rebound in world GDP growth. We think that the latter picked up to over 3½% annualised last quarter. 2nd July 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Chart Pack Rising protectionism drags on commodity prices Overview – Most commodity prices fell in June, depressed by escalating trade tensions and a stronger US dollar. Energy prices were the main exception. 2nd July 2018 · 1 min read
US Data Response ISM Manufacturing Index (Jun.) The increase in the ISM manufacturing index in June is a clear sign that, for now at least, the strength of the domestic economy is more than offsetting any increased uncertainty on trade policy... 2nd July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Focus Is euro-zone inflation set to take off? Germany is the only major euro-zone economy where underlying inflation looks set to rise meaningfully in the next year or so. But even there, inflation is likely to remain lower than in major... 2nd July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Unemployment (May), Manuf. PMI (Jun.) May’s unemployment data revealed that the steady recovery in the euro-zone labour market had continued despite signs of a slowdown in the wider economy. But with wage growth remaining subdued, the ECB... 2nd July 2018 · 1 min read