US Housing Market Update Buy versus rent dynamics favour apartment markets in the Midwest and New York State The large cost gap between buying and renting today underpins our upbeat national apartment demand forecast. Applying the same logic at the city level, demand in Midwestern and New York State metros... 10th February 2026 · 5 mins read
US Rapid Response US Retail Sales (Dec. 2025) The weaker-than-expected retail sales data for December won’t be enough to spoil the fourth quarter, with our estimate of fourth-quarter GDP growth still at 3.8% annualised. But, together with the... 10th February 2026 · 2 mins read
Equities Focus Why we still believe in the AI rally, and the S&P 500 We think the tech-led rally in the S&P 500 will resume, and that 2026 will be a good year for the index despite its rocky start and the many threats facing it. This Equities Focus explains why. 10th February 2026 · 17 mins read
US Commercial Property Update Q4 RICS survey shows US real estate market well into recovery phase The latest RICS survey showed that US commercial real estate is now well into the recovery phase, with improvements across the occupier and investment indicators. Rental expectations are therefore... 9th February 2026 · 3 mins read
Capital Daily Takaichi’s triumph, UK drama, US data: what it means for markets Calm may be on the way for Japan’s markets now the election is out of the way: we don’t expect a further sell-off in JGBs and forecast a stronger yen. But renewed political turmoil in the UK might be... 9th February 2026 · 6 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Housing could take a while to thaw The local real estate board data for January shows that the housing market is still struggling, and we probably can’t blame it all on the weather. Meanwhile, the large fall in the unemployment rate... 6th February 2026 · 4 mins read
US Economics Weekly Jobs market health still in question ahead of Jan payrolls This week's slew of soft labour market data releases – including a further slump in job openings, higher weekly jobless claims, and a rebound in Challenger job cut announcements – has resurfaced... 6th February 2026 · 7 mins read
US Rapid Response US Consumer Sentiment (Feb 2026) The robust pick-up in the current conditions index hints that the labour market, while still weak is improving, while inflation expectations seem to be heading in the right direction. Admittedly the... 6th February 2026 · 2 mins read
Canada Rapid Response Canada Labour Force Survey (Jan 2026) The 0.3%-pt drop back in the unemployment rate to 6.5% last month came on the back of a large fall in the labour force and in spite of a 25,000 decline in employment. We expect this trend to continue... 6th February 2026 · 3 mins read
Canada Economics Focus Will the build-to-rent boom turn to bust? The boom in build-to-rent (BtR) housing starts to record highs, despite the immigration crackdown and accompanying fall in rents on new leases, reflects the significant expansion of government support... 5th February 2026 · 15 mins read
US Economics Update AI already making a big contribution to productivity growth The further gains in GDP in the ICT industries in the third quarter, despite another fall in employment, is a clear sign to us that AI is boosting productivity. While other factors help to explain the... 5th February 2026 · 4 mins read
Commodities Update Critical mineral stockpiles are a symptom of fracturing The stockpiling of critical minerals is an age-old response to a modern-day problem posed by China’s dominance over the supply of rare earths and other raw materials. That said, “Project Vault” will... 5th February 2026 · 4 mins read
US Economics Update JOLTS challenges view that the jobs market has stabilised The large downside surprise in December job openings may concern Fed officials and suggest they were premature to remove language in last month’s policy statement emphasising elevated downside risks... 5th February 2026 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly US-Iran talks, Qatar’s LNG push, Saudi opens up The US and Iran enter negotiations tomorrow, but relations between the two are fragile and there's a high risk that talks break down, which could result in fresh US military strikes on Iran. Elsewhere... 5th February 2026 · 7 mins read
Capital Daily Struggling software sector won’t burst this bubble We don't think the falls suffered by software stocks in recent days are indicative of waning enthusiasm for AI. We think investors will continue to judge that the benefits accruing from AI will... 4th February 2026 · 4 mins read
Commodities Update Oil market implications of US-India rapprochement Warming US-India relations, centred around an agreement for India to purchase less Russian oil, risks tightening the global oil market. However, we aren’t convinced that India will curtail imports... 4th February 2026 · 3 mins read
