The December 2020 edition of Numera’s US Macro Monitor explores the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, and its impact on investor sentiment. Confidence in a swift economic recovery has caused equity prices to rise well above their ‘fair’ value, with important implications for new investments.
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MONTREAL, QC, January 5, 2021 (Press Release) –Numera today released the latest update of its ‘Global Retail Sales Tracker’, which shows that the ‘second wave’ is having a noticeable impact on global consumer spending.
Worldwide retail sales grew in line with expectations in October, rising 0.3% month-over-month, in line with last month’s preliminary estimate. Retail turnover exceeded its ‘equilibrium’ level (i.e. the consumption level consistent with stable inflation) for the second consecutive month, in part owing to substitution from unavailable services towards goods.
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MONTREAL, QC, December 23, 2020 (Press Release) – Numera today released the latest update of its ‘Global Industrial Tracker’, which shows that global industrial production has been surprisingly resilient since the onset of the ‘second wave’.
Industrial growth exceeded expectations in October, rising 0.9% month-over-month (MoM), 0.5 points higher than anticipated last month based on preliminary data. Perhaps surprisingly, much of this improvement reflected above-trend growth in Western Europe (+1.6% MoM), which is explained by the fact that public health authorities allowed factories to remain operational, while imposing restrictions at the consumer level.
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MONTREAL, QC, December 18, 2020 (Press Release) – Numera’s advance estimates for global manufacturing reconfirm growth is coming to a standstill. While prospects of mass vaccinations have improved the economic outlook for 2021, public health risks remain elevated in much of the Northern hemisphere. Our revised estimate for November reveals growth in factory output of 0.7% MoM (+0.8% YoY), considerably weaker than the 1.2% average pace of growth recorded over the three previous months. Output growth will likely weaken further in December as most developed economies maintain lockdown measures.
In the December 2020 edition of Numera’s Global Macro Monitor, we discuss our views about the global economy in 2021, and its implications for investment strategy. As the world transitions towards a ‘reflationary’ regime, we suggest overweighting hard assets and resource-rich equity markets. Read More
The December 2020 edition of our Global Macro Perspectives report features in-depth commentary of the key macro themes shaping the global economic outlook, as well as our latest country and regional views on growth, inflation and exchange rates.
The December 2020 edition of our Commodity Market Outlook focuses on gold prices, covering recent market developments and discussing our gold price outlook over the coming year. As usual, we also provide an update on our latest views on broad commodity markets.
The November 2020 edition of Numera’s US Macro Monitor explores the financial implications of the COVID vaccine, focusing on the likelihood a durable shift towards ‘value’ stocks. We find there is a strong case for overweight positions on value stocks in 2021, although growth should regain its long-term edge once valuation differentials normalize.
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MONTREAL, QC, December 1, 2020 (Press Release) – Numera today released its advance estimates of global retail sales, which point to slowing consumption growth and rising uncertainty amid the second wave.
Our revised estimate for October points to a 0.5% gain versus September (-2.8% YoY). Retail sales likely weakened further in November (+0.2% MoM), with high frequency indicators revealing only a 57% chance of growth worldwide. Falling mobility, most notably in Europe, will probably depress goods consumption during the winter months, although substitution away from contact services should limit the extent of the decline.
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MONTREAL, QC, November 24, 2020 (Press Release) –Numera today released its advance estimates of global industrial production, which support the view that the global economy is decelerating this quarter due to the ‘second wave’.
Our revised estimate for October reveals worldwide production increased 0.5% MoM (-1.7% YoY), well below the pace of growth recorded between May and September (2% on average). The slowdown will likely continue this month: the most likely outcome is of growth of just 0.1% MoM, with a 40% probability of decline.