Weakness on the horizon for sterling
May 13, 2015 18:03 pm UTC| Commentary
Even though BoE lowered UK growth forecasts for the next three years, sterling appreciated further against the dollar on Wednesday, so the exchange rate is now up nearly 8 cents over the past month (1.57 vs. 1.49). Two...
BoE Inflation Report confounded market fears of a more hawkish policy message
May 13, 2015 17:53 pm UTC| Commentary
The revisions to the macro forecasts were uncontroversial. Inflation is a little higher this year to reflect the higher oil price but then is lower in the middle part of the forecast.The growth forecast was lowered...
Weak US retail sales in April signal soft rebound in consumption
May 13, 2015 17:33 pm UTC| Commentary
US retail sales were flat in April, in line with consensus (0.0%) expectations. Gasoline station sales were down 0.7% on the month and motor vehicles and parts fell by 0.4%.The weakness in April core sales was mitigated...
Bounce in U.S. economic activity in Q2 looks to be modest
May 13, 2015 17:12 pm UTC| Commentary
U.S. retail sales were flat (+0.0% M/M) in April, below the +0.2% M/M gain expected by the market. Marchs figure was upwardly-revised from 0.9% to 1.1%.This was not the rebound in spending that was anticipated. The...
Regional divide in Canadian housing widens
May 13, 2015 16:53 pm UTC| Commentary
Canadian Teranet Home Price Index has given us our first peak into Canadian housing activity in April. The index which tracks 11 major cities across Canada rose 4.4% year-over-year in April, following a 4.7% gain in...
US retail sales weakness continues
May 13, 2015 16:37 pm UTC| Commentary
US Retail sales were unchanged in April, following a 1.1% m/m gain in March (revised up from 0.9%). Motor vehicle sales fell by 0.4% m/m, gasoline station sales fell by 0.7% m/m, while building material sales increased by...
May 13, 2015 16:30 pm UTC| Commentary
Chinese economic data was again very weak today with industrial production for April lower at 5.9 percent being below economist expectations. Fixed asset investment was lower at 12.0 percent well below 13.5 percent. Retail...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget
Biden administration tells employers to stop shackling workers with ‘noncompete agreements’
IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects