India Economics Update Improvement in current account position here to stay The recent sharp falls in gold and oil prices could feasibly push India’s current account into surplus over the coming months. Given that India’s large external deficit made its markets among the... 13th November 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank Indonesia to keep rates on hold well into 2015 Bank Indonesia (BI) left interest rates on hold again today despite the ongoing weakness of the economy. A large current account deficit and an uncertain outlook for inflation mean rates are likely to... 13th November 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Trade Monitor Fragile EM export recovery facing more headwinds EM export growth picked up in September, continuing the sluggish recovery seen since the start of this year. However, the improvement remains concentrated in a handful of EMs, with commodity producers... 12th November 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economic Outlook Crisis in Russia to weigh on regional growth Growth across Emerging Europe has slowed in recent months and we expect it to remain soft over the coming quarters. The economies of Central Europe will continue to be held back by weakness in Germany... 12th November 2014 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Current Account (Sep.) The current account surplus climbed to a fresh high in September, and the weaker exchange rate should provide additional support in coming months. 11th November 2014 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Some brighter signs in China’s trade data There were signs of a pick-up in copper imports in China’s October trade data, while iron ore and crude oil imports were still up strongly in year-on-year terms. However, exports of some refined raw... 10th November 2014 · 1 min read
China Data Response Trade & Inflation (Oct.) Over-invoicing continues to distort both China's exports and its imports, but the underlying picture is of healthy foreign demand and subdued demand at home. Meanwhile, the inflation data have... 10th November 2014 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Focus Does Japan need to worry about “Hollowing Out”? Rather than harming the domestic manufacturing sector, outward investment by Japanese firms has boosted domestic activity and exports. Accordingly, the growth of offshore investment should not be... 10th November 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly How big a threat is the weak yen to Korea? The latest increase in asset purchases by the Bank of Japan has caused another weakening of the yen, and created anxiety around the rest of Asia over rising competition from Japanese exports. Given... 7th November 2014 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Trade (Sep.) September’s trade data provided further signs that the UK’s recovery remained distinctly domestic-led in the third quarter as exporters struggled to cope with the strong pound and weak external demand... 7th November 2014 · 1 min read
Global Economics Chart Pack Growth is slowing (but not collapsing) Global growth appears to have softened at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The stagnation in the euro-zone has continued and Japan has still not recovered from the effects of April’s consumption... 6th November 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia’s policy rate to stay on hold until mid-2015 Against a backdrop of softer domestic growth and weakening exports, the Malaysian central bank (BNM) unsurprisingly kept its policy rate on hold at 3.25% today. As the accompanying statement took on a... 6th November 2014 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack Significant slowdown still looks unlikely Fears that the UK’s economic recovery is rapidly losing steam appear largely overblown. Admittedly, the Markit/CIPS Composite PMI, which weights together the headline indices for the manufacturing... 5th November 2014 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response International Merchandise Trade (Sep.) September's encouraging trade report confirmed that the recovering export sector provided a solid positive contribution of around one percentage point to third-quarter GDP growth, which we estimate... 4th November 2014 · 1 min read
US Data Response International Trade (Sep.) The increase in the trade deficit to $43.0bn in September, from $40.0bn, means that third-quarter GDP growth is now set to be revised down from the initial 3.5% annualised estimate to about 3.0%... 4th November 2014 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Is the strong dollar a threat to the US stock market? Although the US stock market has rebounded in recent weeks, one development that could cap its upside is a further rally in the dollar. A strengthening currency causes exporters to lose market share... 4th November 2014 · 1 min read