07 February 2023
Chris Scicluna
,
Emily Nicol
- German IP disappoints to remain firmly in reverse over Q4 as a whole as efforts to cut energy use were maintained; Spanish IP also subtracts from GDP growth in Q4
- BRC survey suggests UK retailers had a challenging start to the year, with sales slowing further
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06 February 2023
Chris Scicluna
,
Emily Nicol
- Japanese wage data a key focus this week, with headline wage growth expected to have risen to the strongest rate since mid-2018
- UK GDP data on Friday is likely to report a moderate decline in activity in December, to leave the economy moving broadly sideways in Q4
- US consumer sentiment and inflation expectations measures in focus
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02 February 2023
Chris Scicluna
,
Emily Nicol
- The Fed predictably slowed its pace of tightening to 25bps and Jay Powell failed to buck market pricing of a pivot later this year
- The ECB looks bound to raise rates by a further 50bps to take the deposit rate to 2.50%, and seems likely to maintain hawkish forward guidance
- The BoE’s rate decision looks more finely balanced than the ECB’s, as the MPC weighs the tight labour market and strong wage growth against a contracting economy and an acknowledgement that inflation will fall rapidly this year
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01 February 2023
Chris Scicluna
,
Emily Nicol
- FOMC widely expected to slow the pace of tightening again to 25bps, taking the fed funds rate target range to 4.50-4.75%
- Euro area flash inflation estimates could go either way
- UK shop price inflation unexpectedly accelerated in January as festive discounting faded and food price pressures maintained an upwards trend
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31 January 2023
Chris Scicluna
,
Emily Nicol
- French inflation rose in January in line with expectations, but core pressures appear a touch softer; French GDP avoided a contraction in Q4 thanks to a big drop in imports,
- A mixed bag from Japanese data, with IP a touch firmer than expected; retail sales rose in December and consumer confidence improved at the start of the year
- US employment cost index for Q4 to be watched closely by the Fed
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