Archive

September 23, 2025
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Broadly Slower Services PMIs

  • PMIs broadly disappointed and declined relative to August, but absolute levels mostly remain robust or at least expansionary. We are not concerned by these noisy moves.
  • Such broad slowing seems shocking relative to the past few months, but it is historically a regular occurrence. Five of the previous twelve were at least as broadly bad.
  • The labour market remains tight in the euro area, softened in the UK, and steady in the US. Slower activity does not mean disinflationary slack. We stay relatively hawkish.

By Philip Rush

September 11, 2025
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ECB: Balanced In The Good Place

  • Staying in the ECB’s “good place” encouraged a neutral bias around its unanimous decision for no change, while being appropriately open to tackling future shocks.
  • Staff inflation forecasts still undershoot the target, with recent upside news seemingly postponing passthrough rather than trimming the extent into something like our view.
  • President Lagarde sounded relaxed about France’s spread widening, and the ECB did not discuss the TPI. We still expect no ECB easing against this, or further rate cuts.

By Philip Rush

September 08, 2025
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France: Déjà Vu?

  • Despite the near certainty that the Bayrou government will fall on 8 September, investors are wary, rather than spooked, reckoning that they have seen all this before.
  • They are likely correct to judge that compromises will then be found, allowing the 2026 budget to be passed by a new centrist government.
  • However, this would again only be putting off the day when a real crisis point is reached.

By Alastair Newton

September 03, 2025
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Cutting After Pauses

  • The BoE and Fed rarely resume cutting cycles after a pause, yet the Fed seems set to break its hold with a cut just as the BoE and ECB enter their own pauses.
  • 2002-03 is the best historical parallel for the Fed, which signals potential cuts should be shallow and are likely to be reversed. Politics is no match for the fundamental need.
  • Persistently excessive UK pressures should prevent the BoE from cutting in November or beyond, with a quarterly pause historically unlikely to resolve in another rate cut.

By Philip Rush

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