Macro Briefing: 30 April 2024

* Fed expected to show discipline in keeping rates higher for longer
* No rate cuts for US till 2025, predict economists at Macquarie
* Wall Street’s home-buying binge comes under scrutiny of lawmakers
* Is US federal borrowing a key factor that’s keeping inflation high?
* Is China’s stockpiling of commodities a prelude to economic ‘nuclear option’?
* Copper rises to 2-year high on soaring demand for green energy transition:

Eurozone economy grows more than forecast in the first quarter. The currency bloc reported a 0.3% increase in GDP, following two quarters of decline. Germany, the largest economy in Europe, also reported a rebound via a 0.2% rise in GDP in Q1. “This is not a flash-in-the-pan,” Unicredit analyst Andreas Rees writes of the German data. “In our view, the worst is finally behind us, as rising global trade but also lower inflation rates compared to last year will probably lead to further moderate growth in the next few quarters.”