Economy
Wild hopes for US rate cuts got shattered, exactly as we predicted. But given the different incentives that the Fed and ECB now face, the relative pricing between the Fed and the ECB could widen further in the coming months. We discuss the implications for rates, the dollar, and the relative positioning in US versus European equities.
Central banks are in a dilemma whether to prioritize supporting growth or bringing inflation back to target. This is unlikely to end well. Investors should be defensively positioned.
The house price index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency grew by 1.2% in February, improving from a decline of 0.1% previously, and above expectations of 0.1%. Meanwhile the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index rose by 7.3% on a year-on-year basis in…
Euro area inflation and GDP numbers were released on Tuesday. The preliminary harmonized core consumer price index came in at 0.7% on a month-on-month basis, a decrease from 1.1% in March. The preliminary year-on-year core CPI also decreased, clocking in at…
In its latest report, BCA Research’s Global Fixed Income Strategy service introduces the latest addition in its framework for investing in global inflation-linked bonds (ILB). To apply the Euro Inflation-Linked Golden Rule, investors should follow these three…
The Q1 US Employment Cost Index (ECI) accelerated at a faster-than-expected 1.2% q/q rate, from 0.9% q/q in Q4. On a year-on-year basis, it rose by 4.2% in Q1 and follows a similar annual increase in the previous quarter. The Fed is not expected to cut rates…
The Chinese NBS non-manufacturing PMI came in at 51.2, below the previous month’s number of 53 and below expectations of 52.2. Moreover, the NBS manufacturing PMI also decreased to (a better-than-expected) 50.4 in April from 50.8 in March. Meanwhile, the…
Chinese industrial profit growth slowed in the first three months of the year to 4.3% YTD y/y, from 10.2% y/y in January and February. The March slowdown is meaningful since industrial profits outright contracted by 3.5% relative to March 2023. Weak domestic…
A few preliminary measures of German inflation for April were released on Monday. The month-on-month headline inflation measure came in at 0.5% an increase from last month’s reading of 0.4% but below expectations of 0.6%. Meanwhile the year-on-year version…
The trimmed mean PCE was released on Friday by the Dallas Fed. This measure removes the top 31% of items with the highest inflation and the bottom 25% of items with the lowest inflation within the PCE basket. Historically, it has served as an accurate gauge…