Market angst remains

March 13, 2014 — Mitul Kotecha

The same themes continue to worry markets, with Ukraine and China cited on a daily basis as the main causes of market angst. Additionally there is a growing feeling that US equity indices may have topped out given the lack of additional impetus from earnings or economic data.

There is not much on the data front today that will change this dynamic for markets and what there is will be unimpressive, with US retail sales set to have remained soft in February (consensus 0.2%) as bad weather hit spending.

The main market movers overnight have been commodity prices which continue to weaken, with the CRB commodities index falling while the Baltic Dry Index also took a tumble. Gold continues to outshine hitting a high of $1375 per ounce, benefitting from the continued rise in risk aversion while in contrast copper prices dropped to a four year low around $6495 before rebounding slightly.

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Asian currencies weaken

March 12, 2014 — Mitul Kotecha

Asian currencies are facing pressure today in the wake of a generally firmer USD tone although the fact that US Treasury yields continue to edge lower will provide some relief. There has been some good news on the flow front, with the region registering a return of equity portfolio flows so far this month to the tune of USD 1.56 bn, with all countries except Vietnam registering equity inflows. Notably however, India has registered strong outflows of equity capital this week, which could cap gains in the INR.

Weakness in the CNY and CNH has been sustained with the USD grinding higher against both. Recently weaker economic news and expectations of some form of policy measures on the FX front (perhaps band widening) soon after the end of the National People’s Congress will keep the CNY and CNH under pressure.

March’s biggest outperformer the IDR has been an underperformer overnight although its drop has been small compared to the magnitude of recent gains. Nonetheless, USD/IDR may have found a tough level to crack around 11400.

The INR is set to trade with a marginally weaker tone but further direction will come from today’s releases of January industrial production and February CPI inflation data. A move back to 61.50 for USD/INR is likely unless the data comes in strong.

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AUD the “Teflon” currency

March 11, 2014 — Mitul Kotecha

Despite further concerns about Chinese growth, following the release of the much worse than expected trade data over the weekend, AUD continues to hold gains above 0.90. Additionally declines in key commodities such as iron ore have done little to dent the enthusiasm for AUD. In this respect, AUD is fast becoming the new “Teflon” currency, helped by the neutral stance of the Reserve Bank of Australia and recently positive domestic data such as building approvals, Q4 GDP and January trade data.

The next major test for AUD will be Thursday’s release of the February jobs report. Clearly there has been a worsening in jobs conditions but the worst is likely over and after a decline in employment over the last couple of months some rebound is expected (our forecast +20k, consensus +15k).

AUD is set to consolidate over the near term, with technical support seen around 0.8980.

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Risk aversion edging higher

March 11, 2014 — Mitul Kotecha

As the reverberations from China’s poor trade data, weaker loan growth and money supply, as well as continued tensions in the Ukraine ahead of a referendum next Sunday, spread through the market, risk aversion continues to edge higher according to our risk barometer.

Lingering questions over the weather impact on the US economy are also capping risk appetite even after the better than expected US jobs report at the end of last week. Although there is no sign of any panic selling of risk assets at present the tone is decidedly cautious.

Consequently safe haven assets remain in demand, with for example gold prices holding up well and US Treasury yields being capped. Additionally industrial commodity prices have taken a hit, with iron ore prices under major pressure.

There is little on the agenda today that will give a clearer picture for markets, with the Bank of Japan policy meeting and UK industrial production data, the key events for the day. As a result, caution is likely to prevail.

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Chinese yuan drops further

March 10, 2014 — Mitul Kotecha

China lowered the CNY’s fixing by 0.18% to 6.1312 per USD today, the biggest cut in the fixing since July 2012 to the weakest level since December 3. The move comes quickly in the wake of the poor trade data over the weekend and in particular the sharp 18.1% drop in exports compared to a year earlier.

Although lunar new year timing may have impacted the data, the drop in exports is still significant and may explain why China has been forcing a weaker currency over recent weeks.

Additionally February inflation data in China was soft, with price pressures recording a broad based decline, with CPI inflation falling to a 13 month low of 2% YoY. The soft inflation data adds further reason for the authorities in China to push for a weaker currency.

USD/CNY and USD/CNH both moving higher in reaction to the data and weaker fixing, with the Chinese currency likely to remain under pressure in the short term both onshore and offshore.

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