Economic Growth
The New York Fed’s Empire State Survey delivered a somber signal about US manufacturing conditions. The headline general business conditions index plunged from -14.5 to -43.7 in December, disappointing expectations of an improvement to -5.0. This move brings…
Results of the ZEW survey sent a slightly positive signal on German investor sentiment. The economic expectations indicator rose to an 11-month high in January – beating consensus estimates of a decline. This increased optimism about the outlook reflects an…
The US manufacturing renaissance, spurred on by reshoring, automation, and government spending, is running its course but progress has slowed on the back of tight monetary conditions and the manufacturing recession. The deceleration of these positive trends weighs on the outlook for the Capital Goods industry group, impeding its performance over the short term. However, we reiterate that positive long-term trends for the industry remain intact. We downgrade Capital Goods to a tactical underweight. It remains a strategic overweight.
Canada’s Business Outlook Survey (BOS) indicator increased slightly in Q4, suggesting that sentiment stabilized at the end of 2023. In particular, easing inflationary pressures amid weaker demand and greater competition drove the 0.3-point uptick. Notably,…
China’s central bank unexpectedly held the medium-term policy rate unchanged at 2.5% on Monday, surprising expectations of a 10 basis point cut. Given that deflationary forces dominate China’s economy, the decision to stand pat underscores that policymakers…
The commodity complex struggled last year with the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index falling by 12% despite the relatively favorable performance of other cyclical financial assets. Several factors contributed to this weakness. In the case of oil, an increase in…
The soft-landing narrative has won, but is too much of a good thing now expected by investors?
On the surface, domestic economic data painted a mixed picture of conditions in China at the end of 2023. On the positive side, the December trade data beat expectations. The dollar value of Chinese imports expanded by 0.2% y/y, surprising anticipations that…
Chinese credit dynamics remain muted with the expansion in total social financing easing from 2.45 trillion yuan to 1.94 trillion yuan in December, below expectations of a tamer slowdown to 2.16 trillion yuan. Loan growth also disappointed, with the 1.17…
According to BCA Research’s Global Investment Strategy service, the EV boom, much like the initial auto revolution over a century ago, could experience several disruptions. Buying diesel-engine era heroes can act as a call option on coming EV market…