Copenhagen Stock Exchange Focus: Oil Prices And The Job Market Set The Agenda

High oil prices and disappointing job figures have slowed the growth pace of the economy at the entry to the third quarter. The USA in particular is marked by increasing oil prices, and the American and the European central banks are put to the test in their efforts to fight inflationary effects resulting from high oil prices, writes Senior Economist Søren Nielsen, Nykredit Markets, in Focus no. 86.

In spite of this, the consumer confidence and industrial confidence remain strong, and Nykredit Markets assesses that the global recovery may be maintained, but at a somewhat slower growth pace. The American central bank is expected to continue its measured rate hikes provided that the American recovery is still on track, whereas the European central bank will await the sustainability of the recovery in Euroland. Søren Nielsen expects to see a European rate hike in the first quarter of 2005, as the European Central Bank will face the difficult task of keeping the rate of inflation below 2 per cent.

Read the article ’Oil prices and the job market’ in Focus no. 86.