Leading Indicators – July 6th

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:

• Global private equity groups are announcing bids for UK companies at the fastest pace in many years. Buoyed by the perception that UK companies represent good value, the level of M&A activity in 2021 has already reached two thirds that of 2020.
• OPEC+ meets as oil reaches $77/barrel. Members will convene to agree oil output for the rest of the year. This coincides with data showing that there are currently 475 active oil rigs in the US, up from 263 one year ago.
• The UK’s real estate sector has been growing more rapidly than previously thought. Following recent revisions to the way that gross value added (GVA) is calculated in national accounts, new estimates suggest the sector saw annual growth of 2.9% between 2010 and 2018, up from 2.1% under the previous methodology.