Commodities Update Will weak emerging market demand prevent a gold rally? Demand in China and India, the world’s two largest gold consumers, has been unusually been weak in recent months, which has dragged gold prices lower. However, we expect another escalation of the euro... 20th August 2012 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly GDP revision won’t change big picture Last week brought yet more evidence that the economy did not do quite as badly in the second quarter as the preliminary GDP figures showed. That said, we have said before that only a massive revision... 20th August 2012 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Rising interest rate expectations misplaced Market expectations of higher interest rates over the next 12 months look misplaced. The global economic outlook has deteriorated, with much of Europe in recession and the US economy facing a fiscal... 17th August 2012 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Consumer Price Index (Jul.) The decline in the official 'core' inflation figure, to 1.7% in July from 2.0% in June, was partly due to continued volatility in vehicle prices. With inflation remaining subdued and the downside... 17th August 2012 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Uptick in incoming data not enough to sway the Fed Since the Fed signalled at the last FOMC meeting three weeks ago that it was poised to act, the incoming economic data have, somewhat ironically, suddenly started to improve. Despite the recent uptick... 17th August 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Asia’s exports make a poor start to Q3 Asia’s export weakness is showing no signs of abating. Indeed, the July trade data reported so far across the region suggest that the export slowdown has deepened. 17th August 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Core’s export resilience won’t last The most surprising element of last week’s Q2 GDP figures was the robustness of exports from France and Germany. Previously strong demand from Asia and the US appears to have been the key, while the... 17th August 2012 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack Olympics to help sales maintain momentum After a slow start, it looks like the Olympic Games have provided a reasonable boost to high street spending. 17th August 2012 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Don’t count on extra budget to revive the recovery The government has raised the prospect of introducing a supplementary budget before the end of the year. With the recovery unwinding and an election just around the corner, it is not hard to see why... 17th August 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Next big move for the ruble will be down The ruble has been on a rollercoaster ride of late, falling by 10% against its dollar/euro basket in May, before clawing back around 5% of its losses over the past few weeks. If nothing else, this... 17th August 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Are more forced part-time workers a risk for arrears? Although it is impossible to be sure, the trend towards ever greater numbers of people working part-time out of necessity rather than choice may have halted the downward trend in mortgage arrears. At... 17th August 2012 · 1 min read
Capital Daily Rally in Spanish and Italian stock markets unlikely to last 17th August 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update Land values poised to recover The recent rise in residential land values is unlikely to be a one-off. Admittedly, with the level of new home sales still low and house prices gains to remain fairly modest, the pace of the initial... 16th August 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Taiwan-China trade agreements are not a big deal Efforts by policymakers in Taiwan and China to strengthen their economic ties have had a negligible impact on Taiwan’s merchandise exports to the mainland, although Taiwan has benefitted in some other... 16th August 2012 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Why is investment not rebounding? Months after policy was loosened, investment growth has barely responded. State-directed investment is picking up but not by enough to offset the reluctance of real estate developers and the rest of... 16th August 2012 · 1 min read
