food inflation

FXMAG.COM: Could you please comment on the CPI in eurozone? The CPI in the Eurozone in May might remain at 7% y/y. For Spain and Belgium, the problem of inflation is fading into the background. Here, inflation indices are below the consensus level. For France and Germany, on the contrary, the topic of prices remains acute. The food segment is still a key contributor to high inflation. Agricultural costs are decreasing, and energy is becoming cheaper. Yet, a number of products remain extremely expensive for consumers. By comparison, cheese in Germany now costs almost 40% more than last year, and potatoes are 14% more expensive. Throughout the EU, food inflation rose by almost 17% y/y in April and might be even higher in May. The constantly rising food prices force households to cut demand at a time of low income. In Italy, for example, there was a special meeting of politicians about the rising price of spaghetti. This is a real problem. Next, we see the following. The agricultural sector is reducing basic spending on food production. Yet labour costs are rising. In addition, supply chain issues persist. It is unlikely that food will become cheaper in the nearest future. Globally, rising prices might put pressure on the ECB to raise interest rates further.

France: consumption plunges while inflation moderates The second quarter got off to a poor start in France, with household consumption falling for the third consecutive month in April, and the outlook has been revised downwards. Against a backdrop of falling demand, inflationary pressures are moderating more quickly than expected.   Consumption continues to plummet In April, for the third consecutive month, consumer spending on goods fell. This time, the fall was 1% over the month, following a 0.8% fall in March. Household consumption of goods is now 4.3% lower than a year ago and 6.3% below its pre-pandemic level. The fall is due to lower energy consumption (-1.9% over one month) and a further fall in food consumption. Food consumption is now 11% below its pandemic level.   The magnitude of the fall shows the significant impact of the inflationary context and the fall in purchasing power, which has led households to significantly alter their consumption habits.   These figures were eagerly awaited, as they are the first real activity data available for the second quarter. And we can now say that the second quarter got off to a poor start. It is clear that the French economy is slowing sharply. It is unlikely that consumption will make a positive contribution to GDP growth in the second quarter, especially as the slowdown is beginning to have an impact on the labour market, as suggested by the employment climate data published by INSEE last week.   The prospect of a recovery later in the year seems to be fading. This has led us to revise our growth outlook slightly downwards. We are now expecting GDP growth of 0.6% in 2023 and 0.7% in 2024, with the risks still tilted to the downside. Although France escaped recession last winter, today's indicators are a reminder that a recession in the coming months cannot be ruled out.   Strong moderation in inflationary pressures Against this backdrop of falling demand, inflationary pressures are moderating. As expected, the pace of consumer price inflation eased in France in May. Inflation stood at 5.1%, down from 5.9% in April, while the harmonised index, which is important for the ECB, reached 6% in May, compared to 6.9% in April. The good news is that the fall in inflation is now visible in all consumer categories. Energy inflation fell sharply to 2% year-on-year in May.   Unlike in other European countries, it remains positive, however, as the rise in household energy bills did only take place at the start of 2023, rather than in 2022, as a result of the "tariff shield" introduced by the government last year. Food inflation remains very high but is starting to fall, to 14.1% in May from 15% in April.   At 4.1% year-on-year, compared with 4.6% in April, growth in the prices of manufactured goods is also moderating, as is that of services, which stood at 3% compared with 3.2% in April. These last two developments are very good news, as they signal that the inflation peak is behind us, but also that inflation is likely to fall rapidly over the coming months. Indeed, the signs of moderation in inflationary pressures are mounting.   For example, tensions in supply chains have disappeared and the growth in industrial producer prices, which gives an indication of changes in production costs for the manufacturing sector, slowed sharply to 5% year-on-year in April (compared with 9.5% in March). Over one month, producer prices fell sharply, by 4.1%, after +1.2% in the previous month. This indicates that growth in the prices of manufactured goods is set to slow markedly over the coming months.   Furthermore, business forecasts for selling prices fell sharply in May, particularly in the industrial and construction sectors, but also in services. Inflation in services should therefore continue to weaken over the coming months.   Finally, given the fall in agricultural commodity prices on international markets and the weakness of demand, food inflation should continue to fall gradually, and more rapidly once the impact of the price agreement between food producers and big retailers has been absorbed, i.e. during the summer. Ultimately, inflation is likely to fall over the coming months, helped by weak demand. We are expecting inflation to average 4.7% over the year (5.7% for harmonised inflation).

Hungarian retail sales still in decline The volume of retail sales fell both on a monthly and yearly basis, underscoring the downtrend since December 2022. Going forward, we expect continued weakness in the second quarter of this year.   On a monthly basis, the volume of retail sales has been falling steadily since the end of last year, with March being an exception. However, the latest data for April suggests that the month-on-month (MoM) rise back in March was only a temporary and short-lived surprise. In this respect, we are back in a continuous downtrend with no marked recovery in sight, as sales volumes fell by 0.9% MoM in April, after adjusting for seasonal and calendar effects.   If we look at the year-on-year (YoY) reading, the final figure was worse than even ING's most pessimistic estimate, as retail sales declined by 12.6% YoY, after adjusting for calendar effects. Although this represents a slight improvement compared to the 13.2% year-on-year slump in March, this was actually caused by a lower base effect dating back to last April.   Out of the three main components of retail sales, food retailing showed the smallest contraction on a yearly basis, registering only an 8.6% decline compared to April 2022. On the other hand, the minimal 0.1% MoM increase in food sales is not exactly encouraging, as this is only the second time in the last 12 months when food sales increased on a monthly basis.   Despite food inflation moderating over the last four months, the annualised index is still elevated at 37.9%, which explains why households are still cutting back on food expenses. With real wages having fallen steadily for seven months, we do not expect a marked recovery in food retailing in the second quarter, despite reduced pressure in food prices.     Non-food retailing decreased both on a yearly and monthly basis, with the latter contracting by 0.6% MoM. This hardly comes as a surprise as households are prioritising buying food amid sky-high inflation. Judging by the sub-components, we see a fairly heterogenous performance as pharmaceutical and cosmetics sales rose, with sales of other sub-components markedly declining. Among these, clothing along with furniture and electrical goods stand out, as these stores have been in a long-term downward trend since last year.   We believe that the disappointing monthly dynamics of these stores underscore our view that households are increasingly cutting back on spending on items that are considered more luxurious. Moreover, the 4.5% MoM decline in the sales of manufactured goods highlights the lack of domestic demand that Hungarian industry has been suffering from in recent months.   For a complete picture, without the 0.9% month-on-month increase in fuel retailing, the overall performance of the retail sector would have been much worse. In this respect, the increase in fuel sales can be attributed to lower fuel prices. However, due to the fuel price cap which artificially lowered fuel prices a year ago (and up until December 2022) the yearly-based index shows a staggering 22.9% decline.   Retail sales volume in detail (2015 = 100%)   The latest retail sales data suggests that the second quarter has started on a rather weak note, and we believe that a significant improvement is unlikely in the coming months. April was the seventh month in a row in which household purchasing power has fallen, a trend that we believe will continue into the fourth quarter of this year.   This is the main reason for our expectation of continued weakness in the second quarter, although we do expect fuel retailing to pick up in May as global energy prices continue to fall. However, this is only a silver lining and will not change the overall picture, especially the annual dynamics.   We do not expect the government's mandatory discounts on food products, which began on 1 June, to have a significant impact either on the course of inflation or on the declining trend in food retailing, although they will provide some stimulus to food sales. However, we believe that the reluctance to spend in the non-food retail sector will continue due to the loss of household purchasing power, so we expect consumption to fall in substance in the second quarter.    

Hungarian inflation drops further than expected While we flirted with the idea of calling for negative monthly inflation in May, we've now seen a sharper drop than anybody expected. Non-core factors were the key drivers, and we now see the National Bank of Hungary sticking to its May playbook in easing.   A sharp drop in both headline and core inflation For Hungary, the potential of further easing in inflationary pressures in May has been on everyone's minds recently. We all saw last year’s speedy acceleration in inflation (especially in food products) and this time around, we knew that base effects would play a crucial role. The main question remained the month-on-month print.   The inflation print came in at –0.4% MoM in May, marking the first price drop since November 2020. With the help of base effects, headline inflation decelerated by 2.5ppt to 21.5% year-on-year. There is one exception in items where inflation hasn't eased, which also caused some downside surprises.     The details Food inflation came in at just 0.1% on a monthly basis, which reflects pricing changes in both unprocessed and processed food items. Here, the reading retreated to 33.5% YoY. This easing in price pressure is responsible for half of the deceleration in inflation from April to May. Both core and non-core items showed easing price changes, helping prompt the drop in core inflation. Motor fuel prices declined by 6.6% from April to May – slightly more sharply than our forecasts. A fixed price for almost the entire year in 2022 – thanks to the fuel price cap measure – also resulted in a significant reduction in the YoY inflation index. Household energy prices fell by 3% MoM, yet another downside surprise to our expectation of a weaker drop in prices. This easing price pressure is a result of an ongoing decrease in household energy consumption, combined with some seasonal factors as the heating season came to an end in May. This created a lower weighted average unit price of piped gas, the most important factor behind the drop. We'd also like to point out one exception where inflation wasn’t able to ease. For services, prices rose by 0.9% MoM on average in May, moving the yearly index up to 14.3% – though still a weaker acceleration than we expected. There is still a significant repricing of other services (financial and insurance services mostly), but holidays have also become more expensive, along with cultural and leisure services.     Underlying price pressures begin to calmThough the May deceleration of headline inflation was mostly driven by non-core factors, we saw some positive developments in underlying price pressures as well. This means falling inflation in durables, clothing, and processed food. As a result, core inflation came in at 0.5% MoM, the lowest repricing since autumn of 2021. Significant easing of monthly repricing is a result of collapsing domestic demand, with households facing the biggest drop in their purchasing power since the 2008-2009 crisis. Thus, the combination of the eased repricing and higher base ended up in a 2ppt lower YoY core inflation at 22.8%. Other underlying indicators – like declining sticky price inflation – are showing some promising signs that Hungary's economy could soon be out of the woods.       Further easing in price pressures ahead Moving forward, we expect both headline and core inflation to continue to retreat over the coming months – perhaps at a slightly slower pace without a significant downward impact on fuel. Domestic demand will remain constrained, especially given the shortfall in savings.   On the energy front, seasonality might help further reduce the average amount printed on overhead bills. The forint is getting stronger, which also helps to reduce imported inflation. The mandatory price cuts on some basic food items by large retailers could boost a reduction in food inflation – although we have some reservations about the overall impact, given the methodology of inflation calculation. Services might remain the only area where we can still expect some further acceleration in inflation.   Lower inflation forecast, no change in monetary policy view In light of today's surprise, a single-digit inflation rate at the end of the year seems almost certain. In fact, barring an energy and fuel price shock, a sub-10% rate could even be within reach by November. Considering the May inflation print, we have also revised our full-year inflation forecast for this year. We now expect the headline reading to be around 18% rather than 19% on average.   When it comes to the monetary policy implications of the May inflation reading, it will lend more confidence to the National Bank of Hungary to continue its gradual and cautious easing cycle. However, we maintain our view that the central bank will not change its playbook, and we expect to see a copy-and-paste version of the May rate decision on 20 June when decision makers gather for the June rate setting meeting.   This means that, in our view, the effective interest rate (the overnight quick deposit rate) could be cut by 100bp to 16%.

The eurozone’s improving inflation outlook could leave the ECB behind the curve Slowly but surely, the inflation outlook for the eurozone is improving. Headline inflation is normalising, but persistent core inflation is complicating things. While this remains the case, the European Central Bank will continue hiking interest rates – but for how long?   Inflation is moving in the right direction, but will core inflation remain stubborn? Headline inflation has come down sharply and is widely expected to continue to fall over the months ahead. The decline in natural gas prices has been remarkable over recent months, and while it would be naïve to expect the energy crisis to be completely over, this will result in declining consumer prices for energy. The passthrough of market prices to the consumer is slower on the way down so far, which means that there's more to come in terms of a downward impact on inflation. For food, the same holds true. Food inflation has been the largest contributor to headline inflation from December onwards, but recent developments have been encouraging. Food commodity prices have moderated substantially since last year already, but consumer prices are now also starting to see slowing increases. In April and May, month-on-month developments in food inflation improved significantly, causing the rate to trend down.   Historical relationships and post-pandemic shifts As headline inflation looks set to slow down further – at least in the absence of any new energy price shocks – the question is how sticky core inflation will remain. There are several ways to explore the prospects for core inflation.   Let’s start with the historical relationships between headline and core inflation after supply shocks. Data for core inflation in the 1970s and 80s are not available for many countries – but the examples below for the US and Italy show that an energy shock did not lead to a prolonged period of elevated core inflation after headline inflation had already trended down. In fact, the peaks in headline inflation in the 70s and 80s saw peaks in core inflation only a few months after in the US and coincident peaks in Italy. We know that history hardly ever repeats, but it at least rhymes – and if this is the case, core inflation should soon reach its peak.   During previous supply-side shocks, core inflation did not remain elevated for much longer than headline inflation

The worst might be behind Hungary. Yes, the economy is still in a technical recession, but we see a way out from it by the second half of 2023. A key source of the recovery lies in the growing disinflation process. The collapse of the domestic demand erases the repricing power of companies. Thus, we see a single-digit headline inflation by the year-end and further normalisation in 2024.   This means a positive real wage growth yet again from late-2023. However, with depleted household savings and tighter fiscal headroom, we hardly see a boom in domestic demand. The recovery will be export driven, thus we see a quick return to surplus in the current account balance. Improving external financing needs and the new era of monetary policy (eg, persistent positive real interest rates from late-2023) lead us to be constructive towards Hungarian assets.   Forecast summary   Macro digest The Hungarian economy has been stuck in a technical recession for three quarters (3Q22–1Q23) due to sky-high inflation suffocating economic activity. Consumption has been markedly slowing down since last autumn, as households cope with double-digit price increases, resulting in deteriorating purchasing power. On top of this, the high interest rate environment prompted a collapse in private investment activity, coupled with the government’s mandated freeze on public investments.   The only silver lining has been net exports, recently. Export activity is helped by pent-up production in car and battery manufacturing, while imports slow on lower energy demand.   Contribution to YoY GDP growth (ppt)   We expect the economy to emerge from the technical recession in the second quarter of this year, although the year-on-year growth will remain negative. As most economic sectors are still struggling amid weak domestic demand, the one sector that stands out on the positive side is agriculture.   The reason for this lies in base effects, which this time will help a lot, as last year’s energy crisis and drought wreaked havoc on the performance of agriculture.   Though this year’s weather has been favourable as well. In this regard, the fate of the overall 2023 GDP growth rather depends on the performance of agriculture as domestic demand will remain weak for the remainder of the year, curbing industry, construction and services.   Key activity indicators (swda; 2015 = 100%) In parallel with an acceleration of the disinflationary process, we expect the economy to display a rebound from the third quarter, delivering growth in every aspect for the remainder of the year. However, we expect a modest growth rate of 0.2% for 2023 followed by a 3.1% GDP expansion next year, boosted by both returning consumption growth and rising investment activity next to positive net exports.   Headline and underlying measures of inflation (%YoY)     Headline inflation retreated to 21.5% YoY in May, after peaking in January, while core inflation has also improved, with services being the only component where we see upside risks in the short run. As for the other components, food inflation has moderated for five months, while both motor fuel and household energy prices have recently declined, supported by a fall in global energy prices and a stronger HUF. We expect inflation to continue to retreat gradually in the coming months, as demand is vastly constrained by the loss of household purchasing power. In addition, base effects are contributing significantly to this year’s disinflationary process, which will accelerate from the third quarter onwards, thus we see the year-end reading dipping comfortably below 10%. At the same time, we expect inflation to average around 18% for this year, with balanced risks to our forecast. However, after two years of double-digit average inflation figures, we expect the full-year average to come in at around 5% in 2024

The inflation story should start to turn over the summer Then there’s the inflation data itself. The dividing line on the committee right now seems between those hawks that are seeing persistent ‘second-round effects’ of higher energy/food prices, and the doves that think headline/core CPI is simply just lagging behind the wider fall in input and product price inflation over recent months (see a speech by BoE’s Dhingra). Elements of both are true. April’s CPI figures were undeniably ugly, though some of the drivers – higher vehicle and alcohol prices, for example – are unlikely to form long-lasting trends. We agree with the doves that food inflation should begin to ease back in line with producer prices, while services inflation (particularly hospitality) should come under less pressure now gas prices are so much lower. The BoE’s own Decision Maker Panel survey of chief financial officers suggests pay and price expectations have also eased noticeably over recent months. If nothing else, hefty base effects should ensure that the headline inflation rate comes down over the summer months and fluctuates around 6%, and to a lesser extent the same is true of the core rate. Barring some further unpleasant and consistent surprises in the services inflation figures over the coming months, we think a 5% peak for Bank Rate seems reasonable. That implies rate hikes on Thursday and again in August.  However, as we discussed in more detail in a separate piece, we think the downtrend in wage growth is going to be slow – even if it has probably peaked. Labour market shortages look at least partly structural, and we suspect wage growth could end the year above 5% (7% currently). While that doesn't necessarily require the Bank to take rates much higher, it does suggest rate cuts are unlikely for at least a year, not least given the mortgage market structure discussed earlier.   Sterling trade-weighted index pushes back to early 2022 highs   Sterling can hold onto gains in the near term Sterling continues to ride high. On a trade-weighted basis, it is returning to levels last seen in early 2022 before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Barring a surprisingly soft May UK CPI on Wednesday, 21 June, it looks like sterling can largely hang onto those gains if the Bank of England does not push back against very aggressive tightening expectations. Our strong preference has been that sterling will enjoy more upside against the dollar than the euro. Currently, we have a 1.33 end-year forecast for GBP/USD and the near-term bias is for 1.30 given what seems to be bearish momentum building against the dollar. EUR/GBP has been weaker than we had expected. And next week's BoE meeting may be too soon to expect a bullish reversal here. Yet, consistent with our house view that the Bank Rate will not be taken as high as the 5.65% level currently priced by investors for the end of this year, we suspect that EUR/GBP ends the year closer to the 0.88 area, meaning that current EUR/GBP levels should make a good opportunity to hedge sterling receivables for euro-based accounts. 

Solid Q1 sees Sainsbury's share price slip back   The Sainsbury's share price has seen a bit of a pull back of late, having hit 15-month highs back in May, the shares slipped to 3-month lows last month, although we have rallied since then.     Recent full year results saw the UK's second biggest supermarket post underlying full year profit before tax of £690m right at the top end of its guidance, down 5% from the previous year on revenues that were 5.3% higher at £31.49bn.   The focus on profits has drawn criticism that supermarkets are profiteering at the expense of consumers. At first glance this might seem valid, particularly with respect to recent headlines around fuel prices.   However, in such a highly competitive market, which UK food retail is, and with the likes of Aldi and Lidl growing their own market share rapidly according to recent Kantar data, such an approach would be self-defeating.   Looking at the underlying numbers there is little evidence of what is now being described as, greedflation, although to get the best deals you need to shop with your Nectar card, or your Clubcard if you're in Tesco.   In last year's results profits after tax fell by 69% to £207m, while the cost of sales rose by 7% to £29.4bn, up from £27.5bn a year ago.     Today's Q1 results have seen the Sainsbury share price slip back despite reporting a similarly solid set of Q1 results. Like for like sales excluding fuel rose 9.8%, with grocery sales seeing an increase of 11%.   The one area of decline was in clothing sales which fell 3.7% with the supermarket reiterating its full year outlook of underlying profit of between £640m and £700m. Fuel sales also fell 21.4%, however the comparatives from the same quarter last year have likely played a part here. On an encouraging note, Sainsburys also said that food inflation is starting to fall, and that any savings would be passed on to customers.     The lack of a change to guidance comes across as somewhat cautious which may help explain today's share price weakness, however such caution is probably sensible given some of the criticism coming the sectors way with respect to accusations of greedflation, which is a helpful tool for politicians to distract from their own shortcomings.     That is not to exonerate the supermarkets where evidence exists of such practices, however one needs to remember that without corporate profits governments will struggle to raise the tax revenue for public services, and in both the case of Sainsbury and Tesco, we've seen their profits more than halve over the last 12 months.     By Michael Hewson (Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets UK)

  The disinflationary trend in the eurozone has started and should gain more momentum after the summer. It will take a while but core inflation should follow suit as well.   Slowly but surely, the inflation outlook for the eurozone is improving. Base effects as well as fading supply chain frictions and lower energy prices have and will continue to push down headline inflation in the coming months – a drop that the European Central Bank deserves very little credit for orchestrating. With headline inflation gradually normalising, the big question is how strong the inflation inertia will be. As long as core inflation remains stubbornly high, the ECB will continue hiking interest rates. How long could this be?   Inflation is moving in the right direction, but will core inflation remain stubborn? Headline inflation has come down sharply, which is widely expected to continue over the months ahead. The decline in natural gas prices has been remarkable over recent months and while it would be naïve to expect the energy crisis to be over, this will result in falling consumer prices for energy. The passthrough of market prices to the consumer is slower on the way down so far, which means that there will be more to come in terms of the downward impact on inflation. The same holds true for food. Food inflation has been the largest contributor to headline inflation from December onwards, but recent developments have been encouraging. Food commodity prices have moderated substantially since last year already, but consumer prices are now also starting to see slow. In April and May, month-on-month developments in food inflation improved significantly, causing the rate to trend down.   Headline inflation – at least in the absence of any new energy price shocks – looks set to slow down further, but the main question now is how sticky core inflation will remain. There are several ways to explore the prospects for core inflation.   Let’s start with the historical relationships between headline and core inflation after supply shocks. Data for core inflation in the 1970s and 1980s are not available for many countries, but the examples below for the US and Italy show that an energy shock did not lead to a prolonged period of elevated core inflation after headline inflation had already trended down. In fact, the peaks in headline inflation in the 1970s and 1980s saw peaks in core inflation only a few months after in the US and coincident peaks in Italy. We know that history hardly ever repeats, but it at least rhymes – and if this is the case, core inflation should soon reach its peak.   History is one thing, the present another. Digging into the details of current core inflation in the eurozone shows a significant divergence between goods and services, regarding both economic activity and selling price expectations. Judging from the latest sentiment indicators, demand for goods has been weakening for quite some time already. At the same time, easing supply chain frictions and lower energy and transport costs have taken away price pressures, leading to a dramatic decline in the number of businesses in the manufacturing sector that intend to raise prices over the coming months.      

Despite today’s positive surprise, we still expect industrial production to be negative for the year as a whole. Therefore, we believe that agriculture could remain the sole saviour of economic growth in 2023, as the latest industry data do not seem to indicate a turnaround in domestic demand. On a monthly basis, the volume of retail sales has been falling steadily since the end of last year, with March being the exception. The latest data from May confirm the downtrend as volume in retail shops fell by 0.8% MoM, adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects. The monthly drop reveals the fact that the pleasing improvement regarding the annualised index (-12.3%) is mainly due to base effects. Thus, there is little reason for joy as short-term dynamics do not point to a rebound in sales volume. Looking at the breakdown, only food sales performed relatively well in May, as sales increased by 0.1% MoM. From a trend perspective, however, this is not particularly good news, as it is only the third time in the last 12 months that food sales have risen, two of which were just 0.1% increases. Nevertheless, with annualised food inflation still at a very high level of 33.5%, it is understandable that households are still cutting back on food spending. Given that real wages have been falling steadily for eight months, we do not expect to see a significant recovery in food retailing in the second quarter, despite the easing of food price pressures.   Breakdown of retail sales (% YoY, wda)

The ADP report on employment in the private sector, published a day before the non-farm payroll data release, was so shocking that it instantly raised expectations for the labor market as a whole, leading to rapid repositioning on Friday before the data release. However, the non-farm payroll figures were significantly weaker than expected, with 209,000 new jobs created (225,000 expected), and data for the previous two months were revised downwards by 110,000. Employment growth is slowing, but the pace remains high. As for wage growth, the figures were an unpleasant surprise for the Federal Reserve. In June, wages increased again by 0.4% instead of the expected 0.3%, and annual growth rates remained at 4.4%, which is higher than the 4.2% forecast. Steady wage growth does not allow inflation expectations to fall, the growth of real rates does not allow the Federal Reserve to start lowering the rate this year.       The U.S. inflation index, which will be published on Wednesday, is the main event of the week and the last important data before the Fed meeting at the end of July. The markets expect an 89% probability of a quarter-point rate hike. Furthermore, the probability of another increase in November has already exceeded 30%, and the first cut is now expected only in May of next year. The U.S. dollar fell after the data release and ended the week weaker than all G10 currencies. The growth of real rates in the current conditions makes a recession in the U.S. almost inevitable.   EUR/USD The Sentix Economic Index for the eurozone has fallen for the third time in a row to -22.5 points, a low since November 2022, and expectations also remain depressed. The eurozone economy has fallen into a recession as of early July. The situation in Germany is even more depressing – the index has fallen to -28.5 points, and the possibility of improvement is ephemeral.     The ZEW index will be published on Tuesday, and the forecast for it is also negative, with a decrease from -10 points to -10.2 points expected in July. On Thursday, the European Commission will present its forecasts. Bloomberg expects that industrial production in the eurozone fell in May from 0.2% y/y to -1.1% y/y, a sharp decline that characterizes the entire eurozone economy as negative and tending to further contraction.   Under the current conditions, the European Central Bank intends to continue raising rates, and even plans to shorten the reinvestment period of the PEPP program. If this step is implemented, a debt crisis, which will put strong bearish pressure on the euro, is inevitable in the face of capital outflows to the U.S. and an expanding recession.   The net long position on the euro has hardly changed over the reporting week and amounts to just over 20 billion dollars, positioning is bullish, there is no trend. However, the calculated price is still below the long-term average and is trending downward.     The euro attempted to strengthen on Friday in light of the news, but it was unable to rise beyond the borders of the technical figure "flag", let alone higher than the local high of 1.1012. We assume that the corrective growth has ended, and from the current levels, the euro will go down, the target is the lower boundary of the "flag" at 1.0730/50. GBP/USD Updated data on the UK labor market will be published on Tuesday. It is expected that the growth of average earnings including bonuses increased in May from 6.5% to 6.8%, and if the data comes out as expected, inflation expectations will inevitably rise. As will the Bank of England's peak rate forecasts. The NIESR Institute expects that further rate increases could trigger a recession.   The cost of credit is rising, and an increase in the volume of bad debts is inevitable in an economic downturn. Inflation did not decrease in May, contrary to expectations, and remained at 8.7%, even though energy prices significantly decreased. Food inflation on an annual basis reached 18.3%, and core inflation at 7.1% is at its highest since 1992. The labor force is decreasing, and if this trend is confirmed on Tuesday, it will almost inevitably result in increased competition for staff, which will mean, among other things, the continuation of wage growth. The Bank of England has already raised the rate to 5%, with forecasts implying two more increases. What does the current situation mean for the pound?   If the economy can keep from sliding into a recession, then in conditions of rising nominal rates, the yield spread will encourage players to buy assets, leading to increased demand for the pound and its strengthening. However, if signs of recession intensify, which could be clear as soon as Thursday when GDP, industrial production, and trade balance data for May will be published, the pound will react with a decrease, despite high rate expectations. After impressive growth two weeks ago, pound futures have stalled at achieved levels, a weekly decrease of just over 100 million has no significant impact on positioning, which remains bullish.  

Moderate outlook From a sectoral point of view, the strength of demand for tourism-related activities and the high level of bookings for this summer should support French economic activity in the third quarter, but the support should diminish thereafter. At the same time, the industrial sector is suffering from weakening global demand. According to survey results, business leaders' assessment of order books has remained very weak for several months. At the same time, inventories of finished products remain high. This means that production is likely to decline over the coming months, as companies see no new orders coming in and have to clear their inventories. The PMI indices for the manufacturing sector have been in contraction territory (below 50) since January. In short, the growth outlook for the French economy is moderate. Growth in the second quarter will be weak, with a fall in GDP remaining a risk. Growth in the third quarter should be slightly better, supported by the good health of the tourism sector, which continues to benefit greatly from the post-pandemic recovery. But this is likely to lose momentum in the fourth quarter, and the end of 2023 and 2024 look weaker, against the backdrop of a global economic slowdown and high interest rates that will have an increasing impact on demand. We are expecting growth of around 0.5% this year. For 2024, the gradual recovery in household purchasing power thanks to lower inflation is likely to be offset by even weaker global demand. As a result, we are less optimistic than the central banks and are forecasting French GDP growth of 0.6% in 2024 (compared with a forecast of 1% by the Banque de France).     The trend toward disinflation has begun and will continue Inflation in France stood at 4.3% in June, compared with 5.1% in May, thanks to a fall in energy prices and slower growth in food prices. The fall in inflation is set to continue over the coming months. Growth in producer price indices has slowed markedly. In addition, business price intentions are moderating sharply: price intentions in the manufacturing sector are at their lowest since early 2021, while in the services sector they are at their lowest since November 2021. These figures are in addition to those for the prices of agricultural products, which are falling sharply, which should lead to a sharp fall in food inflation over the coming months. The trend toward disinflation is therefore clearly underway and will continue. However, this trend will probably be slower in France than in other countries, due to less favourable base effects for energy. The tariff shield and fuel rebates prevented a sharp rise in energy prices over the summer and autumn of 2022. As a result, energy inflation is likely to return to positive territory in France in the coming months, with energy prices for the remainder of 2023 likely to remain higher than their levels in 2022, unlike in other countries. This will probably keep overall inflation higher in France than elsewhere this autumn and at the end of 2023. But this does not change the overall picture: ultimately, although less visible than elsewhere, disinflation is well underway and will continue to be seen in France over the coming months. While this trend is clearly encouraging, it does not mean that the problem of inflation is completely over. There is still a major risk pocket, namely services inflation, which is likely to increase in the months ahead and will probably become the main contributor to French inflation by the end of the year. The successive increases in the minimum wage, particularly in January and May 2023, which are being passed on to all wages, will continue to push up the price of services. The Banque de France estimates that negotiated pay rises will average 4.4% in 2023 (compared with 2.8% in 2022 and 1.4% in 2021), often supplemented by a one-off bonus. Salary increases are more pronounced in sectors where recruitment difficulties are greatest. As we expect the labour market to remain tight over the coming quarters despite the economic slowdown, wage increases are likely to strengthen further. However, given the lower price intentions and sluggish demand we expect in the coming quarters, it is likely that wage increases will not be fully passed on to selling prices, weighing on margins. Therefore, inflationary pressures, including in the services sector, should eventually subside. We expect CPI inflation to average 4.6% in 2023 (5.6% for the harmonised index) and 2.1% in 2024 (3.1% for the harmonised index).   The French economy in a nutshell (%YoY)  

Energy prices were the main driver of hospitality price rises over winter     Food and core goods inflation should start to come lower Away from services, the news is a bit brighter and headline inflation should dip back noticeably in Wednesday's figures. Last June we saw a near-10% spike in petrol/diesel prices; this year, they fell by 2.6% across the month by our estimates. That alone shaves 0.4pp off the annual CPI rate, and the result is that inflation is likely to hit 8.1% (down from 8.7%). Expect an even more pronounced decline in July’s numbers, as the 17% fall in average household electricity/gas bills wipes almost another full percentage point off the annual rate of inflation. The news on food prices should start to get better too. While still at a lofty 18%, food inflation does appear to have peaked and we've seen more noticeable early signs of slowing in the equivalent eurozone data. Given the UK's food inflation rate mirrored the eurozone until a few months ago, we don't see why this downward trend shouldn't also be replicated in Britain. That's because producer prices have been rising much less aggressively over recent months, and on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the change in prices over the past three months is compatible with what we typically saw before pre-2022 (see chart below). We doubt the divergence between producer and consumer prices will persist for much longer   Producer price inflation for food has slowed dramatically     Finally, we’ll also be watching ‘core goods inflation’ after various categories showed unexpected strength over recent months. April saw a surprise spike in vehicle prices, and we’ve also seen stickiness in clothing as well as alcohol/tobacco. The chart below shows that durable goods inflation has picked up again, despite inventory levels rising relative to sales among retailers/wholesalers. This isn’t unique to the UK, and we saw something similar in the US earlier this year. But we don’t expect this divergence between leading indicators and core goods inflation to continue. Base effects should also help disinflation among goods categories too over the next few months. We think this should help core inflation nudge fractionally lower in Wednesday’s data.   Durable goods inflation has picked up despite higher inventories/lower sales     Implications for the Bank of England Throw all of that together, and the result is that headline CPI should end up a tad below 7% in July (released in August). And a further downshift in energy inflation in October should take us to around 5% on our current projections. Core inflation will be stickier, ending the year north of 5%, and services is likely to be closer to 6%. If we’re right, then the Bank of England can probably get away with hiking slightly less than markets expect. Investors currently expect a peak for Bank Rate at 6.15%. Progress on services inflation should be enough to convince the committee to pause its hiking cycle in November, which would suggest a peak rate of either 5.50% or 5.75%. But given the tendency of inflation data to come in on the high side, we certainly shouldn't rule out a peak of 6% should services CPI fail to slow.  

It's been a long time coming but inflation in the UK is finally on the decline and in a rare show of good news, it's falling at a faster pace than expected on both the headline and core levels.  We haven't been treated to many reports like this over the last couple of years, and even when we have any enthusiasm has quickly been extinguished. But this feels different. Without wanting to fall victim to the "this time it's different" mantra that often precedes a terrible turn of events, there is something more promising about this shift. It follows similar declines in the US and the eurozone in recent months, both of which were sharper than expected and at the headline and core level. Unless this is a blip across the board, which is possible, it may be a sign that inflation is on a path to more modest and sustainable levels.  Of course, there's still an awfully long way to go and the central bank is not going to declare victory on the back of one release. But those wild interest rate forecasts of 6.5%+ that we've been seeing may start to be pared back, perhaps quite significantly as it becomes clear that favourable base effects combined with lower energy and food inflation and the impact of past hikes start to have a substantial impact on the data.  The pound has fallen quite heavily on the back of the release which probably reflects those expectations now being pared back. I don't want to get too carried away but peak rate expectations may now be behind us which could make for a more hopeful second half of the year.  I say I don't want to get carried away but then, upon seeing the release, I was immediately reminded of the famous Office US "It's happening!" scene that is so often widely circulated on social media so perhaps I also, in the words of Michael Scott, need to stay calm.   Oil flat but recent developments have been positive Oil prices are a little flat early in the European session after bouncing back a little on Tuesday. Since breaking above the recent range highs late last week, oil prices have been a little choppy although importantly they have held above that prior range and, in the case of Brent crude, seen support around the previous highs. That could be viewed as a bullish technical signal, although that will naturally depend on a number of other factors including the economic data and what producers are doing. Both have been favourable for prices recently, helping Brent break back above $80 for the first time in almost three months.   Gold eyeing another move above $2,000?  Gold broke higher again on Tuesday after briefly paring gains late last week and early this. Lower yields and a weaker dollar are continuing to boost its appeal on the back of some more promising inflation data and lower interest rate expectations. The yellow metal broke above $1,960 yesterday before running into some resistance around $1,980. It's now closing in on $2,000 which is the next major barrier to the upside, a break of which may suggest traders have turned bullish on gold after two months of declines.   Is bitcoin looking vulnerable after yesterday's break?  Bitcoin is back above $30,000 today but looking vulnerable to another dip below. Broadly speaking, the cryptocurrency has been range-bound over the last month but it has drifted toward the lower end of this and the move below $30,000 yesterday may have made some nervous. If we do see a significant break lower, the next key area of support may be found around $28,000.

Good news on UK inflation bolsters chances of a 25bp August hike UK inflation fell more than expected in June, owing in part to an encouraging decline in service-sector CPI. The August Bank of England meeting is going to be a close call, but we think this latest data makes a 25bp hike more likely than a repeat 50bp increase. Finally, we have some good news on UK inflation. Headline CPI has dropped back to 7.9%, below consensus and almost a full percentage point lower than in May. Much of that can be put down to petrol and diesel prices, which fell by 2.6% across the month – a stark difference to the same period last year, where we saw a near-10% spike amid the ongoing fallout of the Ukraine war. But encouragingly, we also saw a marked slowdown in food inflation. These prices increased by 0.4% on the month, which looks like the slowest month-on-month increase since early 2022. This is a trend that should continue, given that producer prices for food products are now falling on a three-month annualised (and seasonally-adjusted) basis, as the chart below shows.   Producer prices point to further improvements in food inflation   The good news continues for services What matters most to the Bank of England is services inflation, and the good news continues here too. Service-sector CPI slipped back from 7.4% to 7.2%, contrary to both the Bank of England’s and our own forecasts for this to remain unchanged in the near term. As always, we caution that one month doesn’t make a trend, but our expectation is that services inflation should gradually nudge lower through the remainder of this year. While stubbornly high wage growth will ensure that the journey back towards target is a long one, surveys have shown that price rises among service-sector firms (most notably hospitality) can be traced in large part back to higher energy prices. Now that gas prices are dramatically lower, the impetus for firms to continue to raise prices quite as aggressively should fade. Indeed, the proportion of hospitality firms expecting to raise prices over the next few months has tumbled from 46% in April to 26% now, according to ONS survey data.   Has UK services inflation finally peaked?   All in all, we now expect headline inflation to dip back to 6.6% in July, owing to the near-20% fall in household energy prices. Core inflation should slip back to roughly the same level too. Is this enough to convince the Bank of England to opt for a 25bp rate hike in August? We think it probably will – but it's going to be a close call. The Bank will also be looking at the recent wage data, which was stronger than expected but came alongside figures showing a renewed cooling in the jobs market and improvements in worker supply. The risk is that the BoE applies a similar logic to that seen in June. This could mean that if it expects to hike again in September, then it might as well opt for a larger 50bp hike in August. We certainly wouldn’t rule this out.    

Eurozone inflation dropped to 5.3% in July as all eyes turn to services Services inflation remains the main concern for the European Central Bank as inflation moves slowly in the right direction. While base effects muddy the picture, inflation should be materially lower towards the end of the year.   Eurozone inflation continues to move in the right direction. As expected, it came in at 5.3% in July, down from 5.5% in June. Energy inflation was sharply negative on base effects from last year at -6.1% while food inflation was lower at 10.8%, down from 11.6% last month. While recent price developments have been less disinflationary, overall headline inflation should continue to trend lower. Core inflation was flat on the month at 5.5% thanks to diverging developments between non-energy industrial goods and services inflation. Goods inflation is trending down quickly as demand for goods has moderated, supply chain problems have faded and energy input costs are now sharply down from a year ago. Services inflation continues to trend up though as wage growth continues to push input costs for service providers higher. Demand is also much stronger than for goods, allowing stronger price increases. Overall, the inflation picture looks positive for the coming months. Even though energy prices have been increasing recently, base effects will push energy inflation down further. Selling price expectations look encouraging for core inflation, especially for goods. Services inflation is set to trend higher for longer, but also slowing from here on. While the summer will see inflation blurred by base effects from government measures, we do expect a much lower reading in inflation by the end of the year. Still, the ECB September meeting will come too early for that, which means that the concern around services inflation will remain key to the Bank's next move.

UK services inflation nudges higher on surging social rents The surprise pick-up in UK services inflation was driven by factors that are unlikely to meet the Bank of England's definition of 'persistent'. We expect a September rate hike, but November is still more of a question mark.   UK services inflation, the part of the CPI data the Bank of England is most concerned about, has picked up again from 7.2% to 7.4%. That’s higher than the Bank had forecast (7.3%), but importantly it was down to two factors that are unlikely to meet the BoE’s definition of “persistent” trends. The most eye-catching change was rents, which rose by 1.7% between June and July, which we make out to be comfortably the highest month-on-month change in this category since 2005. The ONS puts this down to social rentals, and the jump seems unlikely to be repeated. We also saw a larger increase in airfares at the start of the summer holidays than we did last year, which also helped to drive services inflation higher. This is a highly volatile category, which the BoE itself typically removes from the index when it looks at "core services". The bottom line is that the figures don’t carry huge implications for the Bank of England, and certainly, the unexpected pick-up in services inflation isn’t as broad-based as it has been in previous months when we’ve had unpleasant surprises. Indeed if we look at catering, which has been a key driver over recent months, the annual rate is gradually coming down. We think this is a trend that will continue, with ONS business surveys suggesting that firms in hospitality (and elsewhere in the service sector) are raising prices less aggressively, partly on account of the sharp fall in gas prices. For this reason, we still expect some moderate improvement in the services inflation numbers over the coming months.   UK services inflation picked up again in July   Elsewhere, headline CPI came down to 6.8%, having fallen by more than a percentage point on account of the near-20% fall in household electricity/gas bills in July. We’ll get another such fall in October. Meanwhile, the news on food inflation continues to improve, and it's now clearly following the path laid out by producer prices, which are now falling in level terms. Consumer food prices rose just 0.1% in July from June, compared to 2.2% a year ago. Bundle those factors together, and we think inflation will end the year at roughly 5% (and should get there, or near enough, by October).   Food inflation finally following producer prices   For the Bank of England, today’s figures will help cement a September rate hike, especially after yesterday’s stubbornly-high wage growth figures. It’s worth saying we get another set of both price and wage data before the September meeting, and another round of numbers before November’s meeting. While we don’t rule out another rate hike in November, the committee appears to be slowly laying the ground for a pause. Barring unpleasant data surprises before November, our base case is that September’s hike will be the last.

UK retail sales expected to slip in July Fed minutes note concern about inflation The British pound has extended its gains on Thursday. In the North American session, GBP/USD is trading at 1.2772, up 0.32%. UK retail sales expected to decline The UK will wrap up a busy week with retail sales on Friday. The July report is expected to show a decline in consumer spending. Headline retail sales are expected to fall by 0.5% after a 0.7% gain in May and core retail sales are projected to decline by 0.7% after a 0.8% increase in May. The June numbers were higher than expected despite high inflation, helped by record-hot weather. Will the July data also surprise to the upside? The UK consumer has been grappling with the highest inflation in the G7 club, which means shoppers are getting less for their money. This has dampened consumption, a key driver of the economy. Energy prices are lower, thanks to the energy price cap, but food inflation continues to soar and was 17.4% y/y in June. Consumer confidence has been mired deep in negative territory and the GfK consumer confidence index, which will be released later today, is expected at -29, almost unchanged from the previous release of -30 points. The Bank of England would like to follow some of the other major central banks that are in a pause phase, but the grim inflation picture may force the BoE to keep raising interest rates, which could tip the weak economy into a recession. Wage growth jumped to 7.8% in the three months to June, up from 7.5% in the previous period. In July, headline CPI fell to 6.9%, down sharply from 7.9%, but core CPI remains sticky, and was unchanged at 6.9%. The data points to a wage-price spiral which could impede the BoE’s efforts to curb inflation.   The Federal Reserve remains concerned about high inflation and said that additional rate hikes might be needed, according to the minutes of the July meeting. At the meeting, the Fed raised rates by 0.25%, a move that was widely anticipated. Most members “continued to see significant upside risks to inflation, which could require further tightening of monetary policy”. At the same, time, members expressed uncertainty over the future rate path since there were signs that inflationary pressures could be easing.   GBP/USD Technical GBP/USD is testing resistance at 1.2787. The next resistance line is 1.2879  1.2726 and 1.2634 are providing support    

French inflation back on the rise Inflation rose again in August, after falling for three consecutive months, due to higher energy prices. Despite a rebound in household consumption of goods, French domestic demand remains very weak, and a quasi-stagnation of GDP in the second half of 2023 seems the most likely economic scenario. Sharp rise in inflation After falling for three months in a row, inflation in France rose sharply again in August, to 4.8%, compared with 4.3% in July. The harmonised index, which is important for the European Central Bank, stood at 5.7% compared with 5.1% in July. August's rebound was entirely caused by the rise in energy prices, due to higher oil prices and electricity tariffs. Over a year, energy prices have increased again (+6.8% in August), whereas they had been falling in previous months. It should be noted that, because of the tariff shield and fuel price rebates, energy prices rose less dramatically in France than in other European countries last year. The starting point is therefore much lower, and energy inflation will be more of a problem in France than elsewhere in the coming months. Apart from the rebound in energy inflation, the details suggest that inflationary pressures are moderating. Food inflation continues to ease, coming in at 11.1% in August, compared with 12.7% in July. This trend is likely to continue in the months ahead, albeit slowly. We will probably have to wait until 2024 for food prices to stabilise in terms of annual growth. The details of underlying inflation have not yet been published, but they should point to a decline. Prices of manufactured goods slowed to 3.1% in August from 3.4% in July. Given that producer prices are continuing to fall and are now down year-on-year (-1.5% in July compared with +1% the previous month), this trend is likely to continue over the coming months, especially as selling price expectations continue to fall across all sectors. Finally, despite wage increases, services inflation is also continuing to moderate (2.9% compared with 3.1% in July), which is encouraging. Although service inflation is likely to become the main contributor to inflation in the coming months, the risk of an explosion in service prices appears to be limited, in the context of weak economic growth. The trend towards disinflation should therefore resume from September onwards, although it will probably be slower in France than in neighbouring countries. We are expecting inflation, according to the national definition, to reach 4.6% in 2023 on average. We will probably have to wait until the second half of 2024 for inflation to return to 2%.

Food inflation finally cools in Europe after a long hot summer Food price rises are finally subsiding in Europe. We saw the first Month-on-Month decline in almost two years in July. Many branded food manufacturers, however, are reporting lower sales as shoppers turn to more affordable goods. And a combination of high food prices and sluggish growth means those volumes won't be returning anytime soon.   Extraordinary rally in consumer food prices comes to an end Food inflation rates have been cooling for the past couple of months, and July’s inflation figures even showed a small Month-on-Month decrease in the European Union. That said, food prices remain at high levels. A typical EU consumer currently pays almost 30% more for groceries compared to the start of 2021, with some considerable differences across the continent. In Hungary, prices have gone up by more than 60% since January 2021, while food prices in Ireland went up by ‘only’ 19%. Across Europe, consumers reacted by buying less, shopping more at discount supermarkets and favouring private label products over brands. The trend in the US looks fairly similar. The main difference is that 'cooling down' set in a little earlier, and the relative increase was lower compared to Europe. That's partly explained by the fact that US food makers are less exposed to the energy price shock compared to their peers in Europe. American food prices started to move sideways in the first quarter of this year; a typical American consumer currently pays 20% more for groceries compared to the start of 2021.   Food inflation reaches a plateau in the EU and the US Consumer price index for food, 2020 = 100   Is Germany really leading the way on prices? Within the eurozone, Germany has been the only country seeing consumer food prices drop for several months in a row. According to Eurostat data, prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages in Germany were 1.4% lower in July compared to their peak in March this year. This is largely the result of lower prices for dairy products, fresh vegetables, margarine and sunflower oil.   What distinguishes the German food retail market from most other European countries is that discounters have a relatively large market share. Schwarz Group (Lidl) and Aldi have a combined market share of around 30%, and other major retailers such as Edeka and Rewe also own discount subsidiaries. Given the large and competitive German market, food retailers seem to have negotiated more strongly with suppliers than their counterparts in other European countries, even at the risk of losing those suppliers. As a result, retail food prices started to drop earlier. Also, the highly competitive market delivered special sales offers for consumers since the spring. For now, German consumers are benefiting from a reversal of the price trend, and consumers in other European countries might experience a similar trend in the months ahead. However, we believe that consumers shouldn’t get their hopes up too high given that some inflationary trends in the cost base of food manufacturers and retailers are still present. That’s also why we deem it too early to forecast a prolonged period of decreasing food prices.   Modest drop in German consumer prices due to lower dairy, vegetables and margarine prices Consumer price index, 2020 = 100   Underlying costs for food manufacturers show a mixed picture Throughout 2022, almost all of the costs for food manufacturers moved in one direction, and that was up. That picture has changed when we look at some important types of costs.   Input costs are by far the most important cost category, and agricultural commodities are a major part of these inputs. Prices for agricultural inputs are moving in different directions. World market prices for wheat, corn, meat, dairy and a range of vegetable oils are down year on year, which is partly on the back of reduced uncertainty around the war in Ukraine. However, prices for commodities such as sugar and cocoa rallied considerably in 2023. The prospects of the El Niño weather effect potentially upsetting the production of commodities like coffee and palm oil in Southeast Asia alongside India’s partial export ban on rice have given rise to new concerns.We estimate that energy costs make up about 3 to 5% of the costs of food manufacturing, but this will also depend on the subsector and the type of energy contracts. Current energy prices in Europe are much lower compared to their peak in 2022, but they are still much higher compared to their pre-Covid levels. Volatility continues to linger, in part because more exposure to global LNG (Liquified National Gas) markets makes European gas markets more susceptible to price fluctuations. Uncertainty about where energy costs will be headed over winter can make food manufacturers more reluctant to reduce prices.Continuing services price inflation means companies along the food supply chain will face higher fees for the services they contract, such as accounting services and corporate travel.     Wages account for a bit more than 10% of the costs of a typical food manufacturer in the EU (excluding social security costs). Both the spike in inflation in 2022 and 2023 and the continued tightness in labour markets are leading to a series of wage increases in food manufacturing and food retail. In our view, wages will be an important driver for the production costs of food and for consumer prices over the next 18 months, given that wages go up in subsequent steps. Examples of wage increases in the food industry In the German confectionery industry, 60,000 employees get an inflation compensation of €500 in 2023 and 2024 on top of a 10-15% increase in regular wages. We see similar patterns for wage agreements at individual companies, such as for the German branch of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. In the Dutch dairy industry, wages will increase by 8% in 2023 and another 2.65% in 2024, while the collective labour agreement in the Dutch meat industry contains a three-tiered increase of 12.25% in total between March 2023 and 2024. In France, it's expected that average wages in the commercial sector will rise by 5.5% in 2023 and 4.2% in 2024. This also gives an indication for wage development in industries such as food manufacturing.   Wages make up 13% of German food manufacturers' costs with some variation between subsectors Wage costs as a percentage of total costs, 2020     Adverse weather pushes up prices for potatoes and olive oil Following the warmest July on record, it’s evident that people are wondering to what extent weather will push up food inflation in the months ahead. The most recent monthly crop bulletin from the European Commission notes that weather conditions were on balance negative for the yield outlook of many crops and thus supportive for prices. Although the picture can be different from crop to crop and from region to region, there are certain food products where inflation is accelerating due to weather. One of the biggest victims of unfavourable weather in Europe this year is olive oil. The continued drought in Spain, and particularly a lack of rain during spring, leads to estimates that olive oil production will be down by 40% this marketing year. It will be quite difficult to find enough alternative supplies outside the bloc, given that the EU is the top exporter of olive oil. This is also the case for potatoes and potato products. Here, a wet start of the year in northwestern Europe followed by dry weather in May and June and abundant rain in July means conditions have been very unfavourable for potato yields and quality.   Food prices are likely to hover around their current levels for a while The developments in underlying costs for food producers lead us to the view that consumer food prices will likely hover around their summer levels for a while. When there are decreases in general prices, those will be the result of trends in specific categories, such as dairy, rather than being widely supported across all categories. This view is also supported by business surveys which show that sales price expectations of food manufacturers are now clearly past their peak, as you can see in the chart below.  Multiple major food companies, including Danone, Heineken and Lotus Bakeries, have signalled in their second-quarter earnings calls that there will be less pricing action in the second half of this year. However, some companies are indicating that they’re not yet done with pricing through their input cost inflation. Unilever, for example, reported that we should expect moderate inflation in ice cream in the second half of the year, for instance. In any case, we do see a likely increase in promotional activity as brands step up their efforts to re-attract consumers and boost volume growth. But given the elevated price levels and the muted macro-economic outlook, it’s likely to take a while before volumes fully recover.   European food manufacturers expect fewer price increases in the months ahead Sales price expectations for the months ahead, balance of responses       Price negotiations remain tense Food manufacturers have fought an uphill battle to get their higher sales prices accepted by their customers, such as food retailers. Negotiations in the current phase won’t be easy either because food and beverage makers will be heavily pushed by major retailers to reduce prices. Retailers that lost market share will be especially looking to secure better prices in a bid to re-attract consumers. Whether there is room for price reductions will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer depending on the agricultural commodities they rely on, the energy contracts they have and cross-country differences in wage developments. As such, explaining why prices still need to go up, cannot go down (yet) or can only go down by so much will be a significant task for food manufacturers in the coming months.

Italian inflation continued to decelerate in August The August inflation release provides comforting signals of a broad-based deceleration in inflation, including the core measure. The trend looks set to continue until year-end, at a pace which will be affected by residual base effects. We stand by our 6.4% forecast for 2023 HICP inflation.   Goods and services both decelerate The preliminary estimate by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) of August consumer prices confirms that inflation is on a solid decelerating path. The headline measure was down to 5.5% (from 5.9% in July), broadly in line with expectations, driven by the non-regulated energy component, recreational services, fresh food, transport services and durable goods, only partly compensated by housing services and regulated energy goods. The statistical carryover for 2023 headline inflation now stands at 5.7%. Both goods and service inflation decelerated to 6.4% and 3.6%, respectively, and food inflation, at 9.6% in August, fell below double digits for the first time since July 2022.   Core inflation falls Core inflation, which strips out energy and fresh food, and is a key indicator in the eyes of the European Central Bank, also sent encouraging signals, falling to 4.8% from 5.2% in July, confirming the deceleration pace seen since June. This reflects the deceleration in services, not yet impacted by the recent acceleration in hourly wages (at 3.2% year-on-year in June)   Further declines in inflation expected... As the pace of the decline in headline inflation is still being set by the energy component, we should be aware that substantial base effects have yet to play out as a decelerating factor over the autumn. Indicators such as import prices and producer prices continue to point to softer headline inflation ahead. Import prices contracted by 9.8% in June and producer price inflation, at -5.5% YoY in June, has been in negative territory since April. The latter is still driven by the energy component (-26.2% YoY in June), however stripping out energy and construction, the PPI inflation read in June of 2% confirms a clear declining trend.   ...but the pace will depend on a combination of factors If the pricing pipeline is sending encouraging signals, other indicators coming from August business surveys deserve attention. For the first time since September 2022, the manufacturers’ pricing intentions balance rose in August from the previous month and increased in services for the second consecutive month. The only area where the deceleration in price increase intentions remains in place is the retail sector. This is a warning signal that the current pace of inflation deceleration, particularly at the core level, cannot be taken for granted. The wage cost variable will likely have a say in the process. Here, indications are mixed. If some more wage concessions look likely over the next few months as a consequence of past inflation surprises, labour market tightness might loosen a bit. July labour market data, also released earlier today, offer some tentative evidence of this. For the first time over the last eight months, employment declined from the previous month and the unemployment rate edged up to 7.6% (from 7.4% in June). The Italian labour market is possibly finally responding to cyclical developments. After today’s inflation release, we confirm our forecast for average HICP inflation for 2023 at 6.4% YoY.

Food prices Food inflation has started to ease sharply across the developed world, but this is another potential source of risk over the coming decade. Last year showed the cross-dependency of food prices on energy costs, and the ongoing risks associated with the Ukraine war and grain exports. But climate change is also creating increasingly volatile harvests, and the risk is that this results in more protectionism as producing nations seek to protect domestic supply. India’s recent bans on rice exports, and occasional threats of palm oil bans from Indonesia, highlight the risks here. This is a bigger threat to emerging markets, where food can exceed 50% of inflation baskets.    

US This week is all about the US CPI report and retail sales data. If the US demand for goods didn’t weaken that much and if inflation heated up, rate hike expectations for the November meeting might become the consensus.  The inflation report might not be as clear as headline inflation will obviously rise given the surge in gasoline prices, but core might deliver another subdued reading.  Moderation with consumer spending will be the theme as Americans deal with higher energy prices, rising debt levels, and as confidence softens.   Investors will also pay close attention to the University of Michigan’s inflation expectations on Friday. The 1-year outlook for prices may drop from the 3.5% August reading.  Fed speak will be nonexistent as the blackout period begins for the September 20th policy meeting.   Eurozone The European Central Bank meets next week and it’s not clear at this stage what decision they will come to. Refinitiv is pricing in around a 65% chance of a hold, which may signal the end of the tightening cycle – not that the ECB would in any way suggest that at this stage – but expectations do differ. There’s every chance the committee will push through one more, at which point the data is expected to improve regardless making a Fed-style exit all the more difficult. Ultimately, it will likely come down to the projections which will be released alongside the decision. ZEW surveys aside, on Tuesday, the rest of the week is made up of tier-three data. UK  Potentially a big week for the UK ahead of the next monetary policy meeting on 21 September. Andrew Bailey and his colleagues this past week hinted that the decision is in the balance and not the foregone conclusion many expect. Markets are pricing in a more than 70% chance of a hike and more than 50% of another after that by February. If what they said is true, then the labor market report on Tuesday could be hugely significant as further slack could give those on the fence the reassurances they need that past measures, among other things, are working and more may not be needed. Huw Pill also speaks on Monday while Catherine Mann will make an appearance in Canada on Tuesday. GDP on Wednesday could also be interesting, with the rest of the week made up of less influential releases. Russia The CBR is expected to leave the key rate unchanged at 12% on Friday. It hiked very aggressively at the last meeting – from 8.5% – so there is scope for another surprise, with inflation having risen again last month to 5.1%. The rouble has also been in steady decline after rebounding following the last announcement, to trade not far from its recent lows against the dollar.  South Africa A relatively quiet week ahead, with manufacturing figures due on Monday and retail sales on Wednesday. Turkey The CBRT is desperately trying to get inflation under control again with successive large interest rate hikes. In response the currency has stopped making new lows but it has drifted lower again over the last couple of weeks since the surprisingly large last hike. It’s sitting not far from the pre-meeting lows now and inflation data this past week won’t have helped, rising to 58.94% annually. More rate hikes are likely on the way. Next week the focus is on unemployment and industrial production figures on Monday. Switzerland A very quiet week to come, with PPI inflation the only economic release. We’ve been seeing some deflation in recent months in the PPI data which will be giving the SNB some comfort that price pressures are back under control. Another rate hike is no longer viewed as guaranteed, with markets slightly favoring a hold over the coming meetings but it is tight.  China The much sought-after consumer and producers’ price inflation data for August will be released this Saturday where market participants will have a better gauge of the current deflationary conditions in China. After a slight improvement in the two sub-components of August’s NBS Manufacturing PM where new orders and production rose to their highest level since March at 50.2 and 51.9 respectively coupled with an improvement in export growth for August that shrunk to a lesser magnitude of -8.8% y/y from -14.5% y/y in July, there are some signs of optimism that the recent eight months of deflationary pressures may have started to abate. The August CPI is expected to inch back up to 0.2% y/y from -0.3% y/y in July and the PPI is forecast to shrink at a lesser magnitude of -3% y/y in August versus -4.4% in July. If the PPI turns out as expected, it will be the second consecutive month of improvement from a persistent loop of deflationary pressure in factory gate prices since November 2022. Other key data to focus on will be new yuan loans and M2 money supply for August which will be released on Monday. It will provide a sense of whether China’s economy is slipping into a liquidity trap despite the current targeted monetary and fiscal stimulus measures enacted by policymakers. Lastly, the housing price index, industrial production, retail sales, and the unemployment rate for August will be released on Friday with both retail sales and industrial production expected to show slight improvement; 2.8% y/y for retail sales over 2.5% y/y recorded in July, 4% y/y for industrial production versus 3.7% in July. Market participants will be keeping a close eye on youth unemployment for August after July’s figure was temporarily suspended by the National Bureau of Statistics without any clear timeline for the suspension. The youth joblessness data in China is of key concern after the youth unemployment rate skyrocketed to a record high of 21.3% in June, around four times more than the national unemployment rate of 5.3%. Lastly, China’s central bank, the PBoC, will announce its decision on a key benchmark interest rate, the 1-year medium-term lending facility rate on Friday and the expectation is no change at 2.50% after a prior cut of 15 basis points.  India Inflation and balance of trade for August will be the focus for the coming week. Inflation data is released on Tuesday and is expected to dip slightly to 7% y/y from 7.44% in July, the highest since April 2022. Balance of trade will be released on Friday and the expectation is for the deficit to widen slightly to -$21 billion from -$20.67 billion in July.   Australia On Monday, the Westpac consumer confidence change for September is expected to improve to 0.6% m/m from a reading of -0.4% m/m in August, following three consecutive interest rate pauses from RBA. The key employment change data for August will be released on Thursday with 24,300 jobs expected to be created, an improvement on the 14,600 reduction in July. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is expected to slip to 3.6% from 3.7% in July. New Zealand Electronic retail card spending for August is due on Tuesday and is forecast to dip to 1.4% y/y from 2.2% in July. That would represent a declining trend in growth in the past five months. Next up, food inflation for August will be released on Wednesday; its growth rate is expected to slow to 7.8% y/y from 9.6% in July. That would be the slowest growth in food inflation since June 2022. Japan A couple of key data points to note for the coming week. Firstly, the Reuters Tankan Index on manufacturers’ sentiment on Wednesday; after a big jump to +12 in August – its highest level recorded so far this year – sentiment is expected to taper off slightly to +10 for September. Producers’ price index for August will be released on Wednesday and a slight dip is expected to 3.2% y/y from 3.6% in July. Lastly, on Thursday, we will have data on machinery orders from July with the consensus expecting a further decline of 10.7% y/y from -5.8% in June. Singapore One key data to focus on is the balance of trade for August which will be out on Friday. The trade surplus is being expected to increase slightly to $7 billion from $6.49 billion in July. That would be the fourth consecutive month of expansion in the trade surplus.  

US This week is all about the US CPI report and retail sales data. If the US demand for goods didn’t weaken that much and if inflation heated up, rate hike expectations for the November meeting might become the consensus.  The inflation report might not be as clear as headline inflation will obviously rise given the surge in gasoline prices, but core might deliver another subdued reading.  Moderation with consumer spending will be the theme as Americans deal with higher energy prices, rising debt levels, and as confidence softens.   Investors will also pay close attention to the University of Michigan’s inflation expectations on Friday. The 1-year outlook for prices may drop from the 3.5% August reading.  Fed speak will be nonexistent as the blackout period begins for the September 20th policy meeting.   Eurozone The European Central Bank meets next week and it’s not clear at this stage what decision they will come to. Refinitiv is pricing in around a 65% chance of a hold, which may signal the end of the tightening cycle – not that the ECB would in any way suggest that at this stage – but expectations do differ. There’s every chance the committee will push through one more, at which point the data is expected to improve regardless making a Fed-style exit all the more difficult. Ultimately, it will likely come down to the projections which will be released alongside the decision. ZEW surveys aside, on Tuesday, the rest of the week is made up of tier-three data. UK  Potentially a big week for the UK ahead of the next monetary policy meeting on 21 September. Andrew Bailey and his colleagues this past week hinted that the decision is in the balance and not the foregone conclusion many expect. Markets are pricing in a more than 70% chance of a hike and more than 50% of another after that by February. If what they said is true, then the labor market report on Tuesday could be hugely significant as further slack could give those on the fence the reassurances they need that past measures, among other things, are working and more may not be needed. Huw Pill also speaks on Monday while Catherine Mann will make an appearance in Canada on Tuesday. GDP on Wednesday could also be interesting, with the rest of the week made up of less influential releases. Russia The CBR is expected to leave the key rate unchanged at 12% on Friday. It hiked very aggressively at the last meeting – from 8.5% – so there is scope for another surprise, with inflation having risen again last month to 5.1%. The rouble has also been in steady decline after rebounding following the last announcement, to trade not far from its recent lows against the dollar.  South Africa A relatively quiet week ahead, with manufacturing figures due on Monday and retail sales on Wednesday. Turkey The CBRT is desperately trying to get inflation under control again with successive large interest rate hikes. In response the currency has stopped making new lows but it has drifted lower again over the last couple of weeks since the surprisingly large last hike. It’s sitting not far from the pre-meeting lows now and inflation data this past week won’t have helped, rising to 58.94% annually. More rate hikes are likely on the way. Next week the focus is on unemployment and industrial production figures on Monday. Switzerland A very quiet week to come, with PPI inflation the only economic release. We’ve been seeing some deflation in recent months in the PPI data which will be giving the SNB some comfort that price pressures are back under control. Another rate hike is no longer viewed as guaranteed, with markets slightly favoring a hold over the coming meetings but it is tight.  China The much sought-after consumer and producers’ price inflation data for August will be released this Saturday where market participants will have a better gauge of the current deflationary conditions in China. After a slight improvement in the two sub-components of August’s NBS Manufacturing PM where new orders and production rose to their highest level since March at 50.2 and 51.9 respectively coupled with an improvement in export growth for August that shrunk to a lesser magnitude of -8.8% y/y from -14.5% y/y in July, there are some signs of optimism that the recent eight months of deflationary pressures may have started to abate. The August CPI is expected to inch back up to 0.2% y/y from -0.3% y/y in July and the PPI is forecast to shrink at a lesser magnitude of -3% y/y in August versus -4.4% in July. If the PPI turns out as expected, it will be the second consecutive month of improvement from a persistent loop of deflationary pressure in factory gate prices since November 2022. Other key data to focus on will be new yuan loans and M2 money supply for August which will be released on Monday. It will provide a sense of whether China’s economy is slipping into a liquidity trap despite the current targeted monetary and fiscal stimulus measures enacted by policymakers. Lastly, the housing price index, industrial production, retail sales, and the unemployment rate for August will be released on Friday with both retail sales and industrial production expected to show slight improvement; 2.8% y/y for retail sales over 2.5% y/y recorded in July, 4% y/y for industrial production versus 3.7% in July. Market participants will be keeping a close eye on youth unemployment for August after July’s figure was temporarily suspended by the National Bureau of Statistics without any clear timeline for the suspension. The youth joblessness data in China is of key concern after the youth unemployment rate skyrocketed to a record high of 21.3% in June, around four times more than the national unemployment rate of 5.3%. Lastly, China’s central bank, the PBoC, will announce its decision on a key benchmark interest rate, the 1-year medium-term lending facility rate on Friday and the expectation is no change at 2.50% after a prior cut of 15 basis points.  India Inflation and balance of trade for August will be the focus for the coming week. Inflation data is released on Tuesday and is expected to dip slightly to 7% y/y from 7.44% in July, the highest since April 2022. Balance of trade will be released on Friday and the expectation is for the deficit to widen slightly to -$21 billion from -$20.67 billion in July.   Australia On Monday, the Westpac consumer confidence change for September is expected to improve to 0.6% m/m from a reading of -0.4% m/m in August, following three consecutive interest rate pauses from RBA. The key employment change data for August will be released on Thursday with 24,300 jobs expected to be created, an improvement on the 14,600 reduction in July. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is expected to slip to 3.6% from 3.7% in July. New Zealand Electronic retail card spending for August is due on Tuesday and is forecast to dip to 1.4% y/y from 2.2% in July. That would represent a declining trend in growth in the past five months. Next up, food inflation for August will be released on Wednesday; its growth rate is expected to slow to 7.8% y/y from 9.6% in July. That would be the slowest growth in food inflation since June 2022. Japan A couple of key data points to note for the coming week. Firstly, the Reuters Tankan Index on manufacturers’ sentiment on Wednesday; after a big jump to +12 in August – its highest level recorded so far this year – sentiment is expected to taper off slightly to +10 for September. Producers’ price index for August will be released on Wednesday and a slight dip is expected to 3.2% y/y from 3.6% in July. Lastly, on Thursday, we will have data on machinery orders from July with the consensus expecting a further decline of 10.7% y/y from -5.8% in June. Singapore One key data to focus on is the balance of trade for August which will be out on Friday. The trade surplus is being expected to increase slightly to $7 billion from $6.49 billion in July. That would be the fourth consecutive month of expansion in the trade surplus.  

US and European equity futures trade mixed following Tuesday's US technology stocks led weakness after consumer confidence dropped to a four-month low and the expectations index fell below a level that in the past has signaled an incoming recession. The S&P 500 dropped to a June low as the Fed’s higher for long message drove US 10-year yields to a fresh 16-year high while the Dollar index reached a fresh year-to-date high. Overnight equities in Hong Kong gained with those on the mainland cooling after sharp gains earlier as China reported improved industrial profits Crude oil prices remain elevated adding to inflation concerns while gold trades soft near $1900. The Saxo Quick Take is a short, distilled opinion on financial markets with references to key news and events. Equities: The relentless rise in long-end US Treasury yields saw selling accelerate across US stocks on Tuesday with the S&P 500 dropping 1.5% to hit the lowest level since June 7. Technology stocks, which led the rally earlier this year, has been challenged all month on concerns the Fed’s higher for longer message is starting to hurt consumer confidence. A message that was strengthened after the Consumer Expectations Index declined below 80, the level that historically signals a recession within the next year. The S&P 500 will be looking for support around 4,200, the 50% correction of the March to July rally and the 200-day moving average. FX: The DXY dollar index broke higher to fresh YTD highs, having taken out the 105.80 resistance, as long-end Treasury yields continued to rise. Data remained soft, helping keep the short-end yields capped but Fed member Kashkari, who is usually a dove, noted he puts a 40% probability on a scenario where Fed will have to raise rates significantly higher to beat inflation and a 60% probability of a soft landing. USDCAD rose to 1.3528 while GBPUSD slid below 1.2150 and next target at 1.20. EURUSD plunged further to lows of 1.0556 while USDJPY is hovering close to the 150-mark as verbal jawboning continues to have little effect. Commodities: Crude oil remains rangebound with tight market conditions, as seen through the highest premium for near-term barrels in more than a year, being offset by a stronger dollar and the general risk-off tone. API inventory data showed a crude build of 1.6m barrels vs expectations of a 1.7m drop. Gold trades below $1900 on continued dollar and yield strength with focus on $1885 support while China property market concerns sees copper traded near a four-month low. Meanwhile in agriculture, El Nino has been confirmed, and it could be a strong one, potentially impacting food inflation from rising risks of droughts in Southeast Asia, Australia and Brazil-Columbia. Fixed Income. The Federal Reserve’s higher-for-longer message reverberates through higher long-term US Treasury yields. Unless there is a sign that the job market is weakening significantly, or that the economy is slowing down quickly, long-term yields will continue to soar. With 10-year yields breaking above 4.5% and selling pressure continuing to mount through an increase in coupon supply, quantitative tightening and less foreign investors demand, it’s not unlikely to see yields to continue to rise towards 5% until something breaks. This week, our attention turns to US PCE numbers and Europe CPI data and US Treasury auctions. Yesterday’s 2-year notes auction received good demand while offering the highest auction yield for that tenor since 2006. Yet, our focus is on the belly of the yield curve with the Treasury selling 5- and 7-year notes today and tomorrow. If demand is poor, it might mean that the yield curve is poised to bear-steepen further. Overall, we continue to favour short-term maturities and quality. Volatility: The CBOE Volatility Index jumped 2 on Tuesday to close at 18.94%, a four-month high after the underlying SPX index lost 1.5% to settle at the lowest level since June Macro: US consumer confidence fell for a second consecutive month to 103.0 from 108.7 (upwardly revised from 106.1) and beneath the expected 105.5. Present Situation Index marginally rose to 147.1 (prev. 146.7), while the Expectations Index declined further to 73.7 (prev. 83.3), falling back below 80 - the level that historically signals a recession within the next year. Inflation expectations for the 12 months ahead were unchanged at 5.7% in September. New home sales in the US fell 8.7% to 675k from 739k (upwardly revised from 714k), shy of the consensus 700k. Fed's Kashkari has published an essay where he says there is a 60% chance of a soft landing with a 40% chance the Fed will have to hike 'significantly higher'. In the news: FTC Sues Amazon, Alleging Illegal Online-Marketplace Monopoly (WSJ), Foreign brands including Tesla to face scrutiny as part of EU probe into China car subsidies (FT), Senate leaders agree on a short-term spending bill, aiming to avert a shutdown, extending government funding until November 17, pending House approval (CNN). What ‘peak oil’ will mean for China (FT), Americans finally start to feel the sting from the Fed’s rate hikes (WSJ), Exclusive: German economic institutes forecast 0.6% GDP contraction this year – sources (Reuters) Technical analysis: S&P 500 downtrend support at 4,200. Nasdaq 100 support at 14,254. DAX downtrend support at 14,933. EURUSD downtrend support at 1.05. GBPUSD below support at 1.2175, oversold, next support 1.2012. USDJPY uptrend stretched but could reach 150. Gold bearish could drop to 1,870. Brent and WTI Crude oil resuming uptrend. US 10-year T-yields uptrend expect minor correction Macro events: US Durable Goods Orders (Aug) est –0.5% vs –5.2% prior (1230 GMT), Feds Kashkari Speaks on CNBC (1200 GMT), EIA’s Weekly Crude and Fuel Stock Report (1430 GMT)