Developed Countries
According to BCA Research’s European Investment Strategy, the low rate of innovation in Europe is a major problem for the economy. Not only does it prevent Europe from standing at the technological frontier, but it also contributes to the low rate of…
German equities have outperformed their Euro Area peers on a year-to-date basis, with the gap widening since May. The MSCI Germany Index returned nearly 4.5 percentage points more than the MSCI Eurozone index over the latter period. Since the beginning of the…
The European Central Bank (ECB) cut rates by 25 bps in September. It did not signal consecutive rate cuts and we highlighted that the short inter-meeting timeframe between September and October provides little scope for ongoing data releases to move the…
Preliminary estimates suggest that activity continued to slow across DM economies in September. Manufacturing PMIs contracted at a faster pace in the US, Eurozone, Germany, France and Australia, and grew at a slower pace in the UK. Services PMIs continued…
The Draghi report highlights sensible reforms that would address many of Europe’s productivity shortcomings. Whether European capitals heed Mario Draghi’s advices remains to be seen.
The Bank of Japan kept its policy rate unchanged at 0.25% in September and signaled it was in no rush to lift rates further. This move follows two hikes this year, one of them unanticipated. The signaling is consistent with dovish comments in August…
The Bank of Japan’s policy normalization has been accompanied by exceptional outperformance by Japanese banks. Japanese banks have outperformed both the country’s broader market as well as the MSCI ACW Banks index by 10.3% and 2.6%, respectively, so far this…
The Norges Bank kept its policy rate unchanged at 4.5% at its September meeting and signaled low odds of policy easing before the first quarter of 2025. The inflation backdrop does not warrant easing policy. Although core CPI cooled to 3.2% y/y in August,…
Canadian retail sales grew by a higher-than-expected 0.9% m/m in July from a 0.2% contraction in June. A 2.2% monthly rise in vehicle sales led an otherwise broad-based increase. Ex-auto retail sales also surprised positively, growing by 0.4%. A measure…
Singapore is a small open economy sensitive to global trade dynamics. Its non-oil exports (NODX) are thus a good bellwether for global growth conditions. Overall exports, which are highly volatile on a month-on-month basis, decelerated at a…