Euro crisis intensifies

July 12, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

The blowout in eurozone non-core debt has intensified and unlike in past months the EUR has been a clear casualty. The lack of a concrete agreement over a solution given divergent views of EU officials, the European Central Bank (ECB) and private sector participants threatens a further ratcheting higher of pressure on markets over coming weeks.

The only real progress overnight as revealed in the Eurogroup statement appeared to be in the renewing the option of buying back Greek debt via the eurozone bailout fund, extending maturities and lowering interest rates on loans. This will be insufficient to stem the pressure on the EUR, with the currency verging on a sharp drop below 1.40.

The USD continues to take advantage of the EUR’s woes and has actually staged a break above its 100-day moving average yesterday after several attempts previously. This sends a bullish signal and the USD is set to remain supported given that there is little in sight of a resolution to the problems festering in the eurozone.

Today’s release of the June 22 Fed FOMC minutes will give some clues to Fed Chairman Bernanke’s testimony to the House of Representatives tomorrow, but as long as the minutes do not indicate a greater willingness to embark on more asset purchases, the USD is set to remain resilient.

GBP has also benefitted from the EUR’s weakness, and unlike the EUR has only drifted rather than dived versus the USD. However, the UK economy is not without its own problems as revealed in a further drop in retail sales overnight, albeit less negative than feared, with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) like for like sales falling 0.6% in June.

A likely increase in June CPI inflation in data today to a 4.8% annual rate will once again highlight the dichotomy between weak growth and high inflation. In turn, such data will only provoke further divisions within the Bank of England MPC. While further gains against the beleaguered EUR are likely, with a test of EUR/GBP 0.8721 on the cards in the short term, GBP will struggle to sustain any gain above 1.6000 versus USD.

Both AUD and NZD are vulnerable against the background of rising risk aversion and a firmer USD in general. However, both currencies are not particularly sensitive to risk aversion. Interestingly the major currency most sensitive to higher risk aversion in the past 3-months is the CAD and in this respect it may be worth considering playing relative CAD underperformance versus other currencies.

As for the AUD it is more sensitive to general USD strength, suggesting that it will be restrained over coming sessions too and given that market positioning is still very long AUD, there is scope for further downside pressure to around 1.0520 versus USD.

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Which is the ugliest currency?

July 11, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

The contest of the uglies has once again been set in motion in FX markets as last Friday’s weak US jobs report, which revealed a paltry 18k increase in June payrolls, downward revisions to past months and a rise in the unemployment rate, actually left the USD unperturbed. Europe’s problems outweighed the negative impact of more signs of a weak US economy, leaving the EUR as a bigger loser.

The USD’s resilience was even more impressive considering the drop in US bond yields in the wake of the data. However, news over the weekend that talks over the US budget deficit and debt ceiling broke down as Republicans pulled out of discussions, will leave USD bulls with a sour taste in their mouth.

Should weak jobs recovery dent enthusiasm for the USD? To the extent that it may raise expectations of the need for more Fed asset purchases, it may prove to be an obstacle for the USD. However, there is sufficient reason to look for a rebound in growth in H2 2011 while in any case the Fed has set the hurdle at a high level for more quantitative easing (QE).

Fed Chairman Bernanke’s reaction and outlook will be gleaned from his semi-annual testimony before the House (Wed) although he will likely stick to the script in terms of US recovery hopes for H2. This ought to leave the USD with little to worry about. There will be plenty of other data releases this week to chew on including trade data, retail sales, CPI and PPI inflation and consumer confidence as well as the kick off to the Q2 earnings season.

Fresh concerns in Europe, this time with contagion spreading to Italy left the EUR in bad shape and unable to capitalise on the soft US jobs report. In Italy high debt levels, weak growth, political friction and banking concerns are acting in unison. The fact that there is unlikely to be a final agreement on second Greek bailout package at today’s Eurogroup meeting will act as a further weight on the EUR.

Discussions over debt roll over plans, the role of the private sector and the stance of ratings agencies will likely drag on, suggesting that the EUR will not find any support over coming days and will more likely lose more ground as the week progresses. If these issues were not sufficiently worrisome, the release of EU wide bank stress tests on Friday will fuel more nervousness. Against this background EUR/USD looks vulnerable to a drop to technical support around 1.4102.

The Bank of Japan is the only major central bank to decide on interest rates this week but an expected unchanged policy decision tomorrow is unlikely to lead to any JPY reaction. In fact there appears to be little to move the JPY out of its current tight range at present. USD/JPY continues to be the most correlated currency pair with 2-year bond yield differentials and the fact that the US yield advantage has dropped relative to Japan has led to USD/JPY once again losing the 81.0 handle.

However, as reflected in the CFTC IMM data the speculative market is still holding a sizeable long position in JPY, which could result in a sharp drop in the currency should US yields shift relatively higher, as we expect over coming months. In the short-term USD/JPY is likely to be well supported around 80.01.

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Euro unimpressed by Greek confidence vote

June 22, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

News that the Greek government won a confidence vote has left the EUR unimpressed and gains will be limited ahead of the June 28 vote on the country’s 5-year austerity plan. The EUR was in any case rallying ahead of the vote, which the government won by 155-143 votes, and has actually lost a little ground following the vote.

EUR sentiment is likely to remain somewhat fragile given the ongoing uncertainties, but now that the first hurdle has been passed markets there is at least a better prospect of Greece receiving the next EUR 12 billion aid tranche before the July 15 “do or default” deadline. Over the near term EUR/USD upside is likely to remain capped around the 1.4451 resistance level (15 June high).

The next key event for markets is the Fed FOMC meeting outcome and press conference. This is unlikely to bode particularly well for the USD given that the Fed is set to downgrade its growth forecasts, with the comments on the economy likely to sound a little more downbeat given the loss of momentum recently as reflected in a string of disappointing data releases.

Nonetheless, monetary settings are unlikely to be changed, with the Fed committed to ending QE2 by the end of June. I remain positive on the USD’s prospects but its recovery is fragile due to the fact that US bond yields remain at ultra low levels.

Whilst only AUD/USD and USD/JPY have maintained significant correlations with bond yield differentials over the past three months, it will eventually require US bond yields to move higher in relative terms for the USD to find its legs again on a more sustainable basis.

In the meantime the approach of the end of QE2 by the end of June will on balance play positively for the USD as at least the Fed’s balance sheet will no longer be expanding even if the reinvestment of principle from its holdings of US Treasuries suggest that there will not be a quick or immediate reduction in the size of the balance sheet anytime soon.

There is little appetite to intervene to weaken the JPY at present, with the Japanese authorities blaming the strengthening in the JPY versus USD on the latter’s weakness rather than the former’s strength. Until yield differentials widen, USD/JPY will continue to languish at current levels or even lower.

GBP will garner direction from the release of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee meeting minutes. Whilst GBP has edged higher against the USD it has remained vulnerable against EUR. A likely dovish set of minutes reflecting some weak activity data, easing core inflation and soft wage growth, suggests little support for GBP over the short term.

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Contest of the uglies

June 21, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

Although there is plenty of event risk in the form of the Greek confidence motion today market sentiment has taken a turn for the better as a ‘risk on’ mood has filtered through. There was little justification in the turn in sentiment aside from some reassuring comments from the EU’s Juncker but clearly markets are hoping for the best.

The contest of the ugly currencies continues and recently the EUR is running neck and neck with the USD. News that a final decision on a further tranche of aid for Greece and a second bailout package will not take place until early July was not digested well by European markets, although EUR/USD managed to show its resilience once again overnight.

EUR/USD looks like it will settle into a range over the short-term, with support around the 100 day moving average of 1.4170 and resistance around the 15 June high of 1.4451. A weak German June ZEW investor confidence survey may result in the EUR facing some resistance but the data is likely to be overshadowed by events in Greece.

Although Greece continues to dominate the headlines, the looming Fed FOMC meeting and press briefing tomorrow may just keep USD bulls in check especially given the likelihood of downward growth revisions by the Fed and no change in policy settings. Ahead of this news on the housing market is likely to remain bleak, with a likely drop in May existing home sales as indicated by pending home sales data.

USD/JPY continues to flirt with the 80 level but as yet it has failed to sustain a breach below this level. Contrary to speculation the JPY is not particularly reactive to risk aversion at present but instead continues to be driven higher by narrowing US – Japan bond yield differentials. This is pretty much all due to declining US Treasury yields rather than any increase in Japanese bond (JGB) yields.

However, while Japanese officials continue to back off the idea of FX intervention, even at current levels, data releases such as the May trade balance yesterday continue to build a strong case for weakening the JPY. Even economy minister Yosano sounded worried on the trade front in his comments yesterday. Despite such concerns, it will take a renewed widening in bond yield differentials to result in renewed JPY weakness which will need an improvement in US data to be forthcoming.

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Greek Decision Delayed

June 20, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

European Union Finance Ministers have agreed that additional funding for Greece will come from both official and private investors, with the later likely through a voluntary rollover of existing Greek debt as per the ‘Vienna Initiative’ of 2009 applied at the time to Emerging Europe. Agreement was reached following the decision by Germany to ease its demands for private sector participation in a debt restructuring. The news brought some relief to markets on Friday.

However, the announcement today that a final decision on a further tranche of aid and a second bailout package will not take place until early July will come as a blow to markets and likely lead to a more cautious start to this week. The onus is now on Greek Prime Minister Papandreou to gain approval for further austerity measures following the recent government cabinet reshuffle and in the face of a no confidence vote tomorrow. Failure to pass the confidence motion could provoke a political crisis, leading to likely contagion across Europe.

Europe has given the Greek government until the end of this month to implement measures including budget cuts and asset sales, with failure to pass further austerity measures likely to lead to a delay of any further aid. There will be plenty of noise surrounding Greece over coming days, with the issue likely to dominate the EU summit in Brussels on June 23-24. In the meantime the EUR/USD looks like it will settle into a range over the short-term, with support around the 100 day moving average of 1.4165.

EUR speculative positioning is currently around its 3-month average, with the market continuing to hold a sizeable long position in EUR/USD according to the CFTC IMM data. The risks remain skewed to the downside as nervousness about a Greek deal grows. Should the Greek Prime Minister pass a no confidence motion there will be some short term relief but tensions are likely to persist for a long while yet. Moreover, other eurozone countries are not in the clear yet as reflected by Moody’s announcement that Italy’s AA2 government bond rating is on review for possible downgrade.

Posted in Currencies, ECB, Economics, Economy, Europe, eurozone, Financial crisis, Fiscal/Budget, FX, Germany, Greece. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »
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