Oil consuming

Expectations about when exactly central banks will begin an easing cycle have remained a dominant driver of financial market trends in recent weeks. But in the background to this, heightened enthusiasm for the rollout of Artificial Intelligence infrastructure, reinforced by stellar corporate earnings reports, have additionally contributed to an upbeat mood. In our charts this week we home in on the following:

·       Consumer confidence in the US and Europe

·       Energy and consumer confidence

·       Broad money supply growth in the euro area

·       High frequency gauges of labour market activity

·       The UK’s net IIP position

·       China’s export growth in selected sectors