Leading Indicators – June 22nd

Key economic and financial metrics and what to look out for in the week ahead.
Written By:
William Matthews, Knight Frank
1 minute to read

Our weekly roundup of the economic and financial metrics you need to track, and what to look out for in the week ahead. This replaces our previous Daily Economic Dashboard.

In this edition:

  • Private equity seeking UK companies. Private equity funds are announcing bids for UK companies at the fastest pace for 20 years, as managers seek to deploy pent-up capital.
  • UK inflation above target. UK inflation reached 2.1% in May, above the Bank of England’s 2.0% target, although commodity prices are painting a more nuanced picture. The bank is expected to discuss a response to higher-than-expected inflation in a statement on Thursday.

Sentiment indicators awaited. This week sees a raft of PMI and consumer sentiment indicators released globally, highlighting the extent to which an already hot recovery will be perpetuated: last month’s data showed that in April, UK consumer confidence rose to its highest level since February 2020, while in the US, May’s services and manufacturing PMIs pointed to the steepest rate of expansion since 2009.