Highlights Monetary Policy: Last week’s numerous central bank meetings across the world confirmed that the overall direction for global monetary policy is shifting in a more hawkish direction. The main reason: growing fears that…
US and Euro Area measures of consumer confidence are diverging. According to the Conference Board survey, US consumer sentiment declined for the third consecutive month to a seven-month low of 109.3 in September. The nearly six-…
US Financials is among the best performing US equity sectors over the past three months. We expect these positive relative gains to continue. Financials will benefit from rising US bond yields over the coming year. Not only…
According to BCA Research’s European Investment Strategy service, the tactical environment is dangerous for European cyclicals in general, and materials in particular. The fallout from Evergrande’s problem will extend to the…
Highlights The Evergrande crisis is not China’s Lehman moment. Nonetheless, Chinese construction activity will decelerate further in response to this shock. Global equities are frothy enough that a weaker-than-expected Chinese…
As expected, the Norges Bank delivered its first rate hike on Thursday, bringing its benchmark policy rate to 0.25%. It is the first developed market central bank to raise rates in the post-COVID-19 crisis period. The central…
The German IFO’s Business Climate Index softened for the third consecutive month in September, falling to 98.8 from 99.6. The weakness was led by the Current Assessment number which lost 1-point versus expectations of a minor…
Manufacturing and service flash PMIs for September were weaker than expected. In the US, both service and manufacturing PMIs fell below expectations, bringing down the composite PMI by 0.9 points to 54.5. This dynamic was even…
The Bank of England kept policy unchanged at its meeting on Thursday. Instead, it revised down its Q3 growth outlook to 2.1% from last month’s 2.9%. However, it highlighted that this revision largely reflects the dampening effect…
Highlights Asian and European natural gas prices will remain well bid as the Northern Hemisphere winter approaches. An upgraded probability of a second La Niña event this winter will keep gas buyers scouring markets for supplies…