Europe Data Response Euro-zone Industrial Production (Aug.) August’s euro-zone industrial production data were pretty strong, particularly given the drag from temporary disruption in the car industry. But the big picture is that this year’s general slowdown in... 12th October 2018 · 1 min read
China Economics Weekly Equities have further to fall, lacklustre “Golden Week” The stock market sell-off this week is a reminder that Chinese equities won’t be immune if, as we expect, the S&P 500 falls sharply next year. Meanwhile, data on tourism and retail spending during the... 12th October 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Rising borrowing costs will cause growth to slow Although the Fed’s rate hikes have so far been modest compared to previous tightening cycles, actual borrowing costs faced by households and firms have risen more markedly. That is a key reason why we... 11th October 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Focus Debt: Is there another crisis looming? A widespread US debt crisis is unlikely but, over the next few years, over-leverage in the non-financial corporate sector, particularly the oil & gas, utilities and telecoms industries, could trigger... 11th October 2018 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Ghana & Côte d’Ivoire: Cocoa cooperation remains limited The Ghanaian and Ivorian authorities’ failure to agree on a harmonised farm-gate cocoa price dampened hopes of a ‘Choc-OPEC’ that could effectively influence the global market. But collaboration in... 11th October 2018 · 1 min read
Africa Data Response South Africa Manufacturing Production (Aug.) Manufacturing figures released today supported our view that the economy exited recession in Q3. But growth probably remained weak by historical standards, which we think will forestall rate hikes. 11th October 2018 · 1 min read
India Economic Outlook Rapid growth to continue for a while yet GDP growth has surged in recent quarters and, while it has probably peaked, we expect it to remain strong ahead of the general election in the first half of 2019. Thereafter, a focus on fiscal... 11th October 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Machinery Orders (Aug.) The continued surge in machinery orders in August suggests that business investment may have been stronger in Q3 than we had anticipated. Even so, we still expect a marked slowdown in Q3 GDP growth. 10th October 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German Industrial Production (Aug.) August’s 0.3% fall in German industrial production was much weaker than expected and suggests that the economy is very unlikely to match Q2’s 0.5% expansion in the third quarter. We have revised down... 8th October 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Households remain gloomy, yen to strengthen again Japan’s labour market is as strong as most of today’s workers will ever have known, which makes the persistent weakness of consumption all the more puzzling. Spending remains flat according to data... 5th October 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly RBA’s upbeat tone contrasts with downbeat data We doubt that the gap between the Reserve Bank of Australia’s relatively upbeat tone and the downbeat feel of the recent economic news will be sustained for long. We suspect the RBA may become a... 5th October 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Retail Sales (Aug.) The rebound in retail sales in August provides further evidence that households are still proving reasonably resilient to low income growth and falling house prices. But with house prices falling at... 5th October 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Country divergence looks set to continue Business and consumer surveys suggest that growth in the euro-zone as a whole will continue at a fairly healthy pace of around 0.4% per quarter in the near term. But there is a growing divergence by... 4th October 2018 · 1 min read
Global Economics Chart Pack Third-quarter slowdown a sign of things to come The world economy seems to have lost some momentum in the past few months and we expect it to slow further in the coming year. World trade growth has fallen sharply, though this is due to weakening... 4th October 2018 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Update Energy investment unlikely to surge The recent run-up in oil prices, yesterday’s announcement of a new massive LNG project and the coming expansion in the capacity to export crude oil by rail all seem to bode well for energy investment... 3rd October 2018 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Markit/CIPS Services PMI (Sep.) The drop back in September’s Markit/CIPS report on services was a little disappointing but a bit of a fall was expected after a large jump in August. The bigger picture is that growth in the services... 3rd October 2018 · 1 min read