Recent trends in commercial real estate and commercial and industrial loans continued in a status-quo fashion in the second quarter of 2024, according to the latest Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey results released last week by the Federal Reserve. Standards for commercial real estate continue to ... READ MORE >
USA
Consumer sentiment rebounds in August
Consumer sentiment rose for the first time in five months, according to the University of Michigan’s survey in August. The increase is driven by the jump in expectations as consumer sentiment about the next 12 months look better. The topline sentiment index is up to 67.8 from 66.4 in July, with the ... READ MORE >
5 things to know in life sciences: Week of August 12, 2024
Each week we highlight five things affecting the life sciences industry. Here's the latest. Biden administration makes significant investment in oncology treatments The Biden administration is providing $150 million to fund new technologies in the oncology space that enhance the safety and precision ... READ MORE >
Robust July retail sales defy growth scare
While robust July retail sales numbers might come as a surprise given the various pressures on American consumers, the data was very well in line with our forecasts ahead of the Thursday data release from the Commerce Department. Further disinflation and 15 consecutive months of positive real wage growth ... READ MORE >
US July CPI: Further moderation in inflation as Fed prepares policy pivot
Inflation continued to moderate in July as both top-line and core inflation increased 0.2%; top-line inflation increased 2.9% from one year ago and core inflation advanced 3.2%. The internals of the report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday tend to suggest that there will be further ... READ MORE >
Producer prices grow slower than expected, adding evidence to support rate cut
A drop in July’s producer inflation suggests another month of favorable inflation data that should help seal the deal for a rate cut in September and more afterwards. The final demand inflation rose 0.1% in July and 2.2% from a year ago. Even better, the core component of the producer inflation number ... READ MORE >
5 things to know in life sciences: Week of August 5, 2024
Each week we highlight five things affecting the life sciences industry. Here's the latest. CDC issues new guidelines for RSV vaccines The Centers for Disease Control has updated its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine recommendations now advising that only adults aged 75 and older, or those ... READ MORE >
Initial jobless claims fell 17,000 last week, easing growth concerns
The impact of Hurricane Beryl in Texas faded faster than expected in U.S. initial jobless claims data, helping push new claims to a four-week low of 233,000 for the week ending Aug. 3, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The drop in new claims was much-needed good news, as the ... READ MORE >
Consumer products M&A: Cautious buyers limit activity
The first half of 2024 continued the downward trajectory of consumer products deal volumes. Cautious buyers weighed economic and political uncertainty, a softening consumer, and the lack of clarity on the timing and extent of interest rates against continued high seller expectations and limited ... READ MORE >
Service sector bounces back in July, easing growth concerns
Few observers could have expected that the ISM service index would become the market’s savior this week, but that is what happened. The index rose to positive territory at 51.4 after dropping in June to 48.8, suggesting that some of the concerns over an imminent recession looked overblown. We remain ... READ MORE >