Europe Economics Update Euro-zone slowdown due to more than just exports The slowdown in the euro-zone economy last year was driven partly by a decline in export growth and partly by weakening household consumption growth. This year, we suspect that consumption growth will... 23rd January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Draghi’s successor likely to be more hawkish Whoever becomes the next ECB President is likely to be more “hawkish”, and perhaps less effective, than Mario Draghi. That may not matter if the economy recovers from its recent soft patch, allowing... 22nd January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response ECB Bank Lending Survey (Q4 2018) The latest ECB Bank Lending Survey shows that consumers’ and firms’ demand for credit is softening, adding to the evidence that the euro-zone economy has lost momentum. 22nd January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Euro-gloom, Brexit fears and Greek politics This week saw more evidence that the euro-zone economy has lost a lot of momentum. Meanwhile, the UK parliament rejected the EU Withdrawal Agreement, once again raising the spectre of a no deal Brexit... 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Economic Outlook Missing the global tightening cycle The euro-zone should regain some momentum in the coming months, at least compared to its dire performance at the end of last year. But we think the economy will expand by just 1% in 2019 as a whole... 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
ECB Watch More cautious, less confident At next week’s monetary policy meeting, the Governing Council of the ECB will have little option but to acknowledge that the downside risks to its forecasts have increased further since it last met in... 17th January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update What to expect from elections in Europe this year In a busy election calendar this year, the focus will be on the rise of populist and euro-sceptic parties. Elections for the European Parliament in May are the most high profile event, but there will... 17th January 2019 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update New forecasts for the euro and euro-zone assets The outlook for the euro-zone economy has deteriorated sharply in recent months, prompting us to revise down our growth forecasts for the region. In this Update we discuss the implications of these... 15th January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Industrial Production (Nov.) The broad-based slump in industrial production in November underlines how serious the malaise is in Europe’s industrial sector. While the euro-zone may have eked out a small increase in GDP in Q4, it... 14th January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Recession talk, ECB getting more cautious Sharp falls in industrial production in November last year mean that Germany and Italy may have experienced technical recessions in 2018. And GDP in the euro-zone as a whole probably increased by only... 11th January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Sharper euro-zone slowdown increases occupier risks A weaker outlook for the euro-zone economy is likely to see a more marked slowdown in rental growth, shifting the risks to property markets on the occupier side. 11th January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update ECB losing its optimism The account of the ECB’s last meeting confirms that the Governing Council was less confident about the economic outlook, even in mid-December. While policy loosening is very unlikely for now, the... 10th January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update New (lower) forecasts for the euro-zone We are revising our forecasts for economic growth in the euro-zone and now expect GDP to increase by only 1% this year and a bit less in 2020. Core inflation is also likely to be around 1% this year... 9th January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Structurally lower interest rates support valuations With interest rates likely to be structurally lower in the future, prime property yields are unlikely to return to historical levels. As such, we have re-weighted our valuation scores to exclude the... 9th January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response EC Business and Consumer Survey (Dec.) Following on from the disappointing German industrial production data released earlier today, the drop in the EC’s Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for December is yet another sign that there was a... 8th January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash CPI (Dec.) & Final PMIs (Dec.) Data released this morning add to the evidence that economic growth in the currency union has shifted down a gear and, with underlying inflation still low, it now looks likely that the ECB will wait... 4th January 2019 · 1 min read
