Industrial Metals Update Stocks fall but demand remains subdued Total exchange stocks of most industrial metals have fallen over the past month but cancelled warrants have in most cases also declined, which points to lacklustre demand. Aluminium and tin were the... 14th May 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Italy's banks are on the mend, albeit slowly With attention in Italy focused on politics, some significant improvements in the banking sector have gone under the radar. That said, the banks are still a long way from a full recovery. 14th May 2018 · 1 min read
OPEC Watch OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report (May) We still think that OPEC’s forecast that the market will be in a large deficit this year is too ambitious. But we do expect it to be close to balance as higher prices depress demand growth and... 14th May 2018 · 1 min read
India Data Response Consumer Prices (Apr.) In the context of the hawkish tone of the RBI’s latest policy minutes, the large jump in core CPI inflation last month paves the way for a rate hike at the central bank’s next policy meeting in June. 14th May 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update The drivers of Turkey’s widening current account deficit The deterioration in Turkey’s current account position since mid-2017 has been driven by a surge in gold imports, a rising energy import bill and strong domestic demand feeding through into imports of... 14th May 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Apr.) Purchases of government bonds by the Bank of Japan have stabilised over the past six months. But the rate at which its holdings are growing has continued to slow as its bonds are now maturing at a... 14th May 2018 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Higher oil price unlikely to spur investment boom The US decision to exit the Iran nuclear accord pushed crude oil prices up to four-year highs this week, but prices are probably still too low to trigger a renewed investment boom in the Canadian oil... 11th May 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Oil prices jump on US sanctions Donald Trump’s announcement that he will pull the US out of the nuclear agreement with Tehran and re-impose sanctions on Iran’s crude exports caused oil prices to jump this week. Meanwhile, China’s... 11th May 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack Growth slowed in Q1, but Q2 should be better Ahead of Q1 GDP releases over the coming weeks, the official monthly data suggest that growth slowed in Switzerland and the Nordics. Indeed, retail sales in Switzerland increased by 0.6% in Q4 last... 11th May 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Wage growth to trend higher The job opening and labour turnover report and NFIB survey released this week suggest that labour market conditions continue to tighten and point to wage pressures rising further this year. We still... 11th May 2018 · 1 min read
US Data Response Uni. of Michigan Consumer Confidence (May) The continued strength of the University of Michigan consumer confidence index in May doesn’t offer much encouragement as confidence has been a poor guide to spending in recent times. Nonetheless... 11th May 2018 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Why has Brazilian inflation stayed so low? The recent weakness of Brazilian inflation appears to be due in part to persistently weak food inflation, but more importantly it looks like the large output gap in the economy has dragged down core... 11th May 2018 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Banks continue to relax lending standards In March, broad money growth slowed a bit in the euro-zone, UK and Japan. Indeed, in the euro-zone it dropped to its slowest rate since the ECB started its Asset Purchase Programme in early 2015... 11th May 2018 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update Are Western city house prices overheating? Strong house price gains in Western cities such as Seattle, San Francisco and Denver have pushed prices significantly above their previous highs seen just prior to the crash of the mid-2000s. However... 11th May 2018 · 1 min read
