Our latest ING Consumer Research survey sheds light on what European consumers are worried about – and what they believe governments should prioritise in spending
The economic prosperity of recent decades is under pressure from geopolitical and technological paradigm changes. The golden years of globalization are over, and increasingly rough winds in global trade are exposing Germany's structural weaknesses.
While the Trump administration's policies may weigh on some areas of the sustainable investing universe, opportunities with strong commercial economics still exist.
The major FX rates have remained relatively stable at the start of this week in contrast to the deepening sell-off in the equity markets. One of the biggest movers yesterday was the Nasdaq composite index which fell sharply by 4.0% and extended its decline since the high in December to almost 14%.
Total construction outlays declined 0.2% during January. Residential spending ended a three-month streak of gains and fell 0.5% during the month. Although single-family spending continued to expand, multifamily and home improvement spending both dropped.
In stock terms the sell-off has been concentrated in the more high beta domestic cyclical sectors, such as property, infrastructure and industrials which were the big outperformers last year. This is also why GREED & fear’s India portfolio, which is heavily positioned in these sectors, outperformed the Nifty by 18.7% in US dollar terms on a total-return basis in the year to 17 December but has since underperformed by 12.1% (see Exhibit 9).
While Germany is still digesting and debating Sunday's election results, the latest Ifo index reading suggests that the economy remains stuck in stagnation.
