Rocky Road

September 27, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

Despite the rally in US stocks on Friday, led by the technology sector, US stocks have fallen for four straight weeks.  The jury is still out on whether equities and risk assets in general can rally in the face of a host of uncertainties in the weeks ahead including the potential for a contested US election, fading US economic momentum, lack of progress on “Phase 4” US fiscal stimulus and a resurgence in virus cases globally.  What is clear, is that the road ahead is a rocky one, reflected in the fact that equity volatility (VIX) remains elevated and G10 FX options implied volatility around the time of the US election has spiked. 

One of the main beneficiaries of this uncertainty has been the US dollar lately, much to the detriment of precious metals given their strong inverse correlation.  It wasn’t that long ago that most commentators were writing off the USDs prospects and it’s still not clear that its recovery can persist.  The USD has hit its highest level in 2 months but will likely struggle if equities can eke out further gains in the days ahead.  In contrast, gold is trading around its lowest levels in 2 months.  While these trends may persist in the very short term, technical indicators (eg Relative Strength Index) indicate approaching overbought USD and oversold gold levels. 

This week, the main focus will be on the first US Presidential debate on Tuesday and US September jobs report at the end of the week.  While the US jobs report will likely show a relatively strong (when compared to pre-covid levels) increase in hiring (consensus around 900k), the pace of hiring is likely to slow and employment is still likely to be at least 11 million lower compared to February.  The battle for the new US Supreme Court Justice adds another twist, with President Trump announcing the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett and the Senate moving ahead to vote on this nomination this side of the election.  This has changed the dynamics ahead of the election battle, energizing voters on both sides. 

In Asia, China’s September purchasing managers indices (PMIs) and monetary policy decisions in India and Philippines will garner most attention this week.  China’s economy is emerging from the Covid crisis in good shape, helped by resilient exports performance, with medical goods and electronics exports performing particularly well.  This is likely to be reflected in China’s PMIs this week, which are set to remain in expansion territory. Meanwhile US government pressure on Chinese technology companies continues to rise, with the US government reportedly sanctioning China’s biggest chipmaker, SMIC.  This may draw a retaliatory response from China, such as adding US companies to China’s “unreliable entities” list.  

India’s Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monetary policy decision is likely to result in an unchanged outcome on Thursday.  While growth has been hit badly due to Covid-19, inflation has also spiked to well above the RBI’s target, leaving the central bank in a difficult position on policy.  Ultimately the RBI will have to ease monetary policy further, but it is unlikely to do so at its meeting on Thursday.  India’s economy is fast heading for a double-digit plunge in growth this year and unfortunately virus cases remain at very high levels.  The rupee has been resilient, however, and is unlikely to weak much further in the short term, even as the economy softens. 

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Lingering Disappointment

September 20, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

Another soft close to US stock markets at the end of last week sets up for a nervous start to the week ahead.  The S&P 500 has now declined for a third straight week, with tech stocks leading the way lower as more froth is blown way from the multi-month run up in these stocks.  Lingering disappointment in the wake of the Federal Reserve FOMC meeting is one factor that has weighed on risk assets.  More details on how the Fed plans to implement its new policy on average inflation targeting will be sought. Markets will also look to see whether the Fed is pondering any changes to its Quantitative Easing program. This week Fed officials will get the opportunity to elaborate on their views, with several Fed speeches in the pipeline including three appearances by Fed Chair Powell. 

Disappointment on monetary policy can be matched with a lack of progress on the fiscal front, with hopes of an agreement on Phase 4 fiscal stimulus ahead of US elections fading rapidly.  A loss of momentum in US economic activity as reflected in the NY Fed’s weekly economic index and declining positive data surprises as reflected in the Citi Economic Surprise Index, are beginning to show that the need for fresh stimulus is growing.  On the political front, the situation has become even more tense ahead of elections; following the death of Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg attention this week will focus on President Trump’s pick to replace her, adding another twist to the battle between Democrats and Republicans ahead of the election.    

Another major focal point ahead of elections is US-China tensions, which continue to simmer away. China’s economy and currency continue to outperform even as tensions mount.  August’s slate of Chinese data were upbeat and China’s currency (CNY) is increasingly reflecting positive economic momentum, with the CNY CFETS trade weighted index rising to multi week highs.  There is every chance that tensions will only get worse ahead of US elections, likely as the US maintains a tough approach in the weeks ahead but so far Chinese and Asian markets in general are not reacting too much.  This may change if as is likely, tensions worsen further. 

After last week’s heavy slate of central bank meetings, this week is also going to see many central banks deliberate on monetary policy.  The week kicks off with China’s Loan Prime Rate announcement (Mon), followed by policy decisions in Hungary and Sweden (both Tue), New Zealand, Thailand, Norway (all on Wed), and Turkey (Thu).  Markets expect all of the central banks above to keep policy unchanged as was the case with the many central banks announcing policy decisions last week.  The lack of central bank action adds further evidence that 1) growth is starting to improve in many countries and 2) the limits of conventional policy are being reached.  While renewed rounds of virus infections threaten the recovery process much of the onus on policy action is now on the fiscal front. 

Posted in Asia, Asian currencies, central banks, China, coronavirus, COVID-19, Currencies, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, equity markets, Federal Reserve, Financial crisis, Fiscal/Budget, FX, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, New Zealand, Norway, Politics, Thailand, Trade, Trump, Turkey, US, US administration. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Host Of Central Banks In Focus

September 13, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

Well, last week, tech stocks had their worst week since March, with stability far from returning.  While the jury is still out, most still view the pull back in tech stocks as a healthy correction following a prolonged period of gains, blaming increased options activity over recent months for the magnitude of the decline. The buy on dip mentality is likely to continue to prevail, though tech stocks have not yet show any sign of wanting to make a convincing pull back.   

Signs of nervousness are clear; equity volatility remains elevated, but many investors are still sitting on healthy gains over recent months.  Given the low cost of funding, low returns in government bonds, alongside continued strong demand for stay at home electronics and a vaccine that could still take months to arrive, it is hard to see the tech sector falling too far.   

The fall in the pound sterling has been quite dramatic over recent weeks, both against the US dollar and euro.  Fears over a collapse in trade talks with the European Union have intensified.  The sudden waking up of the market to these risks has been provoked by the prospects that the withdrawal agreement with the EU will be torn up, prompting threats of legal action by the EU.

Time is running out to get a deal on the table before the end of the Brexit transition period at the end of the year, but UK Prime Minister Johnson has said that the internal market bill is necessary to prevent “a foreign of international body from having the power to break up our country.” The new legislation is already facing a rebellion in parliament. Against this background its hard to see GBP rally, with the currency likely to be particularly volatile over the coming weeks.

Attention this week will turn to several central bank decisions, with monetary policy makers in Poland (Tue), US (Wed), Brazil (Wed), Japan (Thu), Indonesia (Thu), Taiwan (Thu), South Africa, (Thu), UK (Thu) and Russia (Fri) all scheduled to announce their decisions.  After months of policy easing globally, this week will look rather boring, with none of the above likely to ease further.   

The Fed FOMC meeting will likely capture most attention, but there is potential for disappointment if the Fed does not provide further details on its shift to average inflation targeting in its forward guidance, even as the accompanying statement and Chair Powell’s press conference are likely to sound dovish. The US dollar has continued to stabilize, aided by the drop in GBP, but a dovish Fed could limit further upside in the short term. 

Aside from central bank decisions attention will be on US election polls, which take on more importance as the election creeps closer.  US fiscal stimulus talks have hit a wall, with little chance of progress this week, while US pressure on China and Chinese companies is likely to continue to be unrelenting as elections approach.  On the political front the race to take over Japan’s prime minister following the resignation of Shinzo Abe will conclude this week (Wed).   

Posted in Asia, Asian currencies, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, Bond markets, Brexit, central banks, China, coronavirus, COVID-19, Currencies, Economics, Economy, equity markets, Europe, eurozone, Federal Reserve, FX, Indonesia, Interest rates, Japan, Monetary Policy, Politics, Taiwan, Trump, UK, US, US administration. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Will Stability Return?

September 6, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

After a very nervous end to last week, with US tech stocks leading the sell-off in US equity markets amid lofty valuations, heavy positioning and stretched technical indicators, markets will look for signs that stability will return in the days ahead.  However, the November US election is increasing in prominence as a market driver, something that is beginning to manifest itself in equity volatility and will likely play more of a role for FX and rates markets volatility going forward. 

The fact that there has been little progress between Democrats and the US administration on further fiscal stimulus adds to the uncertainty for markets ahead of US elections.  Also after Fed Chair Powell’s Jackson Hole speech in which he unveiled a new average inflation strategy, markets will look for this to be reflected in forward guidance. This could happen as early as this month’s FOMC meeting on September 16 but will more likely take place later.

After a torrid several weeks the US dollar made some recovery last week amid short covering, but underlying sentiment remains weak (latest CFTC IMM data shows speculative USD positioning languishing around multi-year lows).  Whether the USD can make a more sustainable recovery remains doubtful in the weeks ahead of US elections and is more difficult given the Fed’s more dovish shift.  However, in the near term there may be more scope for short covering.

Key highlights this week are China Aug trade data today, US Aug CPI (Fri), Bank of Canada meeting (Wed), European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank Negara Malaysia (Thu).  Among these the ECB meeting will be interesting; while a policy change is unlikely the ECB will probably highlight its readiness to act further to address downside inflation risks.  The ECB may also be more vocal about the recent strengthening of the euro to a two-year high, but aside from jawboning, there is little the ECB is likely to do about it. 

Emerging markets assets have benefitted from a weaker USD and but with growth remaining under pressure as likely to be revealed in weak Russian and South African GDP data this week while Covid cases in many EM countries continue to rise rapidly, risks remain high.  China’s trade data will give some early direction this week, but with US-China trade tensions only likely to escalate further, the outlook for emerging markets assets is clouded in uncertainty. 

Posted in Asia, Asian currencies, Bond markets, Canada, central banks, China, COVID-19, Currencies, ECB, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, equity markets, Europe, eurozone, Federal Reserve, Fiscal/Budget, FX, Interest rates, Malaysia, Monetary Policy, Politics, Trade, Trump, US, US administration. Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »
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