Focus

When it comes to monetary policy, the Global Financial Crisis and Great Recession continue to cast a long shadow. The four major developed world central banks are the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England (BoE), the Bank of Japan (BOJ), and the European Central Bank (ECB). Nine years after the… Read More »

For now, tensions on the Korean peninsula have subsided, and with them, market jitters as well. While volatility spiked last week in the wake of President Trump’s “fire and fury” comments and Pyonyang’s specific reference to the US territory of Guam, the rhetoric has been dialed back. US military and… Read More »

Growth has been robust since the beginning of 2017. In the second quarter, the economic activity was up by 2.5% after 2% during the first quarter and 2.4% in the last three months of 2016 (annual rates). Compared to the second quarter of 2016 the GDP level is 2.15% higher… Read More »

Brexit woes for UK mortgage market as lending slows, says GlobalData An analysis of the UK mortgage market by GlobalData has confirmed that the market started to show signs of slowing down in 2016. Faced by the headwinds of Brexit and a slowing economy, GlobalData’s Global Retail Banking Analytics tool… Read More »

With political risks behind us and growth accelerating, the focus is shifting toward the removal of the ECB’s stimulus.   Political risks have decreased materially beyond the short term, in our view, and economic recovery is gaining pace. Growth is on track to reach our above-consensus GDP growth forecast of… Read More »

Optimistic supporters of globalization hope that 2017 might be seen as turning the tide against nationalist political movements, after France and the Netherlands avoided populist victories in the first half of the year. As investors, we are not so hopeful and believe policy uncertainty will remain elevated due to political… Read More »

Thanks to the intact earnings outlooks of companies, shares are still attractive. The Japanese stock market is becoming more appealing again relative to other markets thanks to its continued ultra-expansive mone-tary policy. Monetary policy causes volatilityThe global economy is in such robust shape that, in addition to the Fed in… Read More »

Housing market activity is set to expand in all major European markets this year, fueled by historically low lending rates and gradually accelerating economic growth. We expect housing prices will continue to rise through 2018 because we believe the European Central Bank will maintain ultra-low rates, with no hike before… Read More »

GDP growth was marginally stronger during the second quarter in the Euro Area. It was at 0.56% (2.26% at annual rate) after 0.51% (2.04% AR) during the first three months of this year. The growth profile has been slightly modified with this publication. Formerly, GDP growth for the first quarter… Read More »

South Korea’s stock market has surged 20% in local currency terms this year, making it one of the best performers in Asia in 2017 Soohorang, the white tiger, is the official mascot for the Winter Olympics to be held in PyeongChang, South Korea in February 2018. Considered Korea’s guardian animal,… Read More »