Markets

Last week, the 0.1% met at World Economic Forum annual gathering in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos. While the official excuse to go there is to discuss and shape the global agenda – the theme dominating this year being...

The further reform of China’s state-owned enterprises has attracted a lot of attention and triggered debate since it was discussed last year at the third plenary session of the Chinese Communist Party’s 18th Central Committee (the Third Plenum). Three areas...

After a decisive election victory on 14 December, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would seem to be in an extremely sweet spot to deliver on both his main domestic and international policy agendas. After a decisive election victory on 14...

Shinzo Abe’s second term as prime minister of Japan, unlike his first, was a modest success through till 2014. But he will have to bring real and tangible outcomes for Japan and the Japanese economy if it is to succeed...

Emerging markets seem to be on a slightly better footing after a few turbulent weeks. Many EM currencies were able to appreciate against the dollar in the wake of the ECB’s QE announcement, despite most major currencies depreciating. Meanwhile, EM...

The Australian dollar depreciated significantly in the second half of 2014, losing around 14 percent of its value against the US dollar and almost as much against the Chinese renminbi. Nevertheless, the Australian dollar needs to devalue by a further...

Over the last week, Hungary (+8.8%), Russia (+7.2%), and Chile (+5.7%) have outperformed in the EM equity space as measured by MSCI, while the Philippines (-0.9%), Czech Republic (-0.6%), and UAE (-0.1%) have underperformed.  To put this in better context,...

The economy of the Philippines hit some rough patches in 2014. The outlook for 2015, on the other hand, is fairly strong. The economy of the Philippines hit some rough patches in 2014. The outlook for 2015, on the other...

The Chinese economy is widely perceived to have entered a ‘new normal’ — annual GDP growth has slowed to between 7 percent and 7.5 percent from the double-digit levels of previous years. This was something that policymakers expected: an inevitable...

US–Vietnam military relations have improved remarkably in recent years but talk of an enhanced alliance between Washington and Hanoi overlooks important geopolitical and historic nuances. Defence relations between the two countries turned a page in the early 2000s, when both...

Two months before the Sri Lankan presidential elections, few thought that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would lose. There was no formidable opponent from the opposition to challenge him, and, since his re-election after the war victory in 2009 for a second...

Since the release of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone blueprint in September 2013, plans for similar reforms in the rest of China have emerged — and are to be implemented within the next three years. Since the release of the...

For some time now, Australia’s economy has been underperforming its peers. For some time now, Australia’s economy has been underperforming its peers.Since the end of 2012, Australia’s real GDP has grown at an annual rate of 2.3 percent, 0.1 percentage...

In late 2013 the Chinese authorities put together a reform agenda for the financial sector, focusing on reducing entry barriers, liberalising market mechanisms and improving financial regulation. This could be the final frontier of China’s financial reform, which — according...

After an eventful few sessions, EM assets this week will be wedged between a US holiday on Monday and expectations ahead of the ECB meeting on Thursday. Bar any unexpected developments, we doubt there will be a lot of conviction...