A Lot Of Moving Parts

November 29, 2019 — Mitul Kotecha

There are lot of moving parts driving market sentiment at present.  US economic news has helped to buoy markets this week after US Q3 GDP was revised higher in its second estimate, to 2.1% q/q while October durable goods orders came in stronger than expected.  However, the news that President Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act after almost unanimous passage in Congress, has fueled some cautious.  Investors now await any retaliation from China and whether the Bill will get in the way of a Phase 1 trade deal.

On the trade front both the US and Chinese governments have said that there are closing in on a Phase 1 deal but as yet there has been no confirmation, with less and less time to agree a deal before the end of the year and more importantly before the next phase of tariffs kicks in on December 15.  One sticking point between the two sides appears to be what extent will the US administration roll back tariffs, with China likely wanting not only the tariffs scheduled to be implemented in mid-December to be rolled back but also the ones implemented in August.

Such a roll back in tariffs would be take place in exchange for increased Chinese purchases of US goods and perhaps stricter intellectual property regulations, but more structural issues such as state subsidies, technology transfers etc may be put back to later deals.  In the meantime markets do not appear overly concerned, with risk assets and equities in particular continuing to rally and volatility continuing to decline.  If there is no deal announced in the weeks ahead, markets could face a set back, but if agreement on a deal is to be merely pushed back into Q1 2020, the damage will be limited.

After its sharp fall over October the US dollar has gradually clawed back ground over recent weeks, helped by US asset market outperformance and consequently strong inflows into US assets.  As we move towards the end of the year it appears that the USD will maintain its top spot, much to the chagrin of the US administration and their preference for a weaker USD.

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Looking At Central Banks For Direction

November 19, 2019 — Mitul Kotecha

This week feels as though its one where markets have gone into limbo waiting for developments on the trade war front, and for direction from central bankers.  So far there has been no indication that a date or even location has been set to finalise details of a Phase 1 deal between the US and China.  While officials on both sides suggest that progress is being made, markets are left wondering if a deal will even be signed this side of the new year.  Despite such uncertainty there does not seem to be too much angst in markets yet, and if anything, risk assets including equities look rather resilient.

Central bankers and central bank minutes will garner plenty of attention over coming days.   Overall it looks as though major central banks led by the Fed are moving into a wait and see mode and this means less direction from these central banks to markets over the next few weeks and likely into year end.

Fed FOMC minutes this week will give more information on the Fed’s thinking when it eased policy in October, and markets will be looking for clues as to what will make them ease again.  In his recent Congressional testimony Fed Chair Powell highlighted that he sees little need to ease policy at the December meeting, strongly suggesting no more easing from the Fed this year.

Reserve Bank of Australia minutes overnight highlighted that the Bank will also now wait to assess past monetary easing measures before cutting rates again while still holding the door open to further cuts if necessary.  While the RBA noted that a case could have been made for easing this month, it doesn’t appear that they are in a rush to move again, with easing now becoming more likely next year than in December.

Another central bank in focus is the ECB, with ECB President Lagarde delivering the keynote address at the European Banking Congress in Frankfurt.  This will be an opportunity for markets to see whether her views are in line with previous ECB President Draghi and also to see how she reacts to criticism of the ECB’s decision from outside and within the governing council, to ease policy further at the September meeting, when it cut the deposit rate to -0.5% and restarted asset purchases.

Another central bank in focus over coming days includes the PBoC in China.  The PBoC cuts its 7-day reverse repo rate by 5bps this week, the first decline in this rate since 2015 in an attempt to lower funding cots to banks.  While the move is small the direction of travel is clearly for lower rates and this is likely to be echoed in the release of the new Loan Prime Rate tomorrow, which could also reveal a small 5bps reduction.  China is likely to maintain this path of incremental easing in the weeks ahead.

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Cautious Sentiment Towards A Trade Deal

November 13, 2019 — Mitul Kotecha

Markets continue to focus on the potential for a “Phase 1” trade deal between the US and China.   The stakes are high. President Trump who stated that tariffs on Chinese goods would be “raised very substantially” if no deal was struck between the two sides.  US officials also poured cold water over comments by Chinese officials at the end of last week that there had been an agreement to reduce tariffs in phases.  Markets will take a cautious tone given such comments but it is still likely that a deal of sorts will agreed upon in the next few weeks.

Both sides want a deal and while Trump has said that China wants one more than he does, the US administration may want to avoid fueling market turmoil as attention increasingly turns to next year’s US elections.  This suggests that a Phase 1 deal is more likely than not, but agreement on later Phases will be much harder given that there are various structural issues that remain unresolved such as technology transfers, intellectual property theft and state subsidies.

For now what is important is that markets believe that there is progress towards a deal and an eventual signing probably sometime in December.  Despite the harder rhetoric from the US side this still looks like the most likely outcome which in turn suggests that equities and other risk assets have room to rally.  In the meantime, the situation in Hong Kong where protests have intensified will weigh not just on Hong Kong’s markets but markets across the region adding another reason for market caution in the short term.

On the data and events front attention will be on US October CPI, retail sales and a crop of Fed speakers including Fed Chair Powell who is unlikely to change the view the Fed is on pause for the time being.  Elsewhere Chinese data has been less than impressive this week, with October aggregate financing and new yuan loans both coming in weaker than expected.   This is likely to be echoed by the retail sales and industrial production data this week too.

On the FX front, the US dollar has made up around of its October losses amid some deterioration in risk appetite.  Further moves will depend on the progress towards a trade deal, with the USD likely to be pressured should it become clearer that a deal is likely to be signed and vice-versa.  US retail sales data will also have some impact in the short term, but with the Fed on pause and US data holding up the USD the will be driven by driven by the gyrations in risk assets.

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