Growth/Risk Asset Rally Dichotomy To Continue

January 3, 2021 — Mitul Kotecha

Happy New Year!  2020 ended with record highs for US stock markets, capping off a solid year for risk assets amid massive and ongoing central bank liquidity injections.  In contrast the dollar index (DXY) ended the year languishing around its lowest levels since April 2018.  The dichotomy between the sharp deterioration in global growth and risk asset performance has widened dramatically.  Given the acceleration in COVID-19 cases over recent weeks and consequent lockdowns, especially in the US and Europe, this divergence is likely to be sustained and even widen further over the next few months, at least until various vaccines finally manage to stem the damage.

Two of the biggest stumbling blocks for markets over recent weeks/months have been US fiscal stimulus and Brexit.  Both have now passed with last minute deals, setting the scene for a clearer path in the weeks ahead though political obstacles have not disappeared by any means, with the Georgia Senate run-off elections scheduled for Tuesday.  The outcome will be crucial for control of the US Senate with Democrats needing wins in both races to take over. However, the races are too close to call according to polls. Separately the US Congress will meet on Wednesday to declare the winner of the Presidential election. 

On the data and events front the week begins with an OPEC+ meeting tomorrow, with officials deliberating on whether to expand output by up to 500k barrels.  There are also a series of December Markit manufacturing purchasing managers indices (PMI) tomorrow including in various countries in Asia as well as the release of the Caixin manufacturing PMI in China.  US data will take centre stage with the release of the ISM manufacturing survey (Tuesday), Federal Reserve FOMC minutes (Wednesday) and non-farm payrolls (Friday).  Overall, markets are likely to begin the year much as the same way they left 2020, with risk appetite remaining firm. 

One interesting observation as we kick off 2021 is that so many investor and analysts’ views are aligned in the same direction (long Emerging markets, short USD, long value stocks, etc), and positioning is already looking stretched in various asset classes as a result.  While I would caution against catching a falling knife there is a clearly a risk of jumping on the same bandwagon as everybody else in a market that is increasingly positioned in one direction.  Overall, while the risk rally is likely to continue to have legs in the months ahead, investors should be on their toes in the weeks ahead given risks of a positioning squeeze in various asset classes.

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Going “The Extra Mile”

December 14, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

Risk assets ended last week on a soft note as Brexit uncertainties intensified amid a lack of progress towards a transition deal.  However, news overnight was a little more promising, as PM Johnson and EC President von der Leyen agreed to “go the extra mile” to try to agree up on a deal.  “Incremental” progress has reportedly been made and talks could now continue up to Christmas.  Sterling (GBP) rallied on the news and further gains are likely on any deal.  However, gains may prove short lived, with markets likely to focus on the economic difficulties ahead of the UK economy.  A no deal outcome is likely to result in a much sharper decline in GBP, however.

Progress towards fresh US fiscal stimulus progress faltered leaving US equity markets on shaky ground.  As it is, US stocks have struggled to extend gains over December after a stellar month in November and in recent days momentum has faded further.  Last week 9 out of 11 S&P sectors fell, suggesting broad based pressure.  Whether it is just a case of exhaustion/profit taking after solid year-to-date gains – for example, Nasdaq is up almost 38% and S&P up 13.4%, ytd – or something more alarming is debatable.  The massive amount of liquidity sloshing around and likely more dovishness from the Fed this week, would suggest the former.  

At the same time the US dollar (DXY) and broader BDXY are down almost 6% and 5% respectively, this year and most forecasts including our own look for more USD weakness next year.  Some of this is likely priced in as reflected in 27 straight weeks of negative aggregate USD (vs major currencies) positioning as a % of open interest (CFTC). The USD looks a little firmer this month, but gains are tentative and like equities this could simply reflect profit taking.  For example, in Asian currencies that have performed well this year such as the offshore Chinese yuan (CNH) and Korean won (KRW), fell most last week, partly due to increased central bank resistance. 

This week is a heavy one for events and data.  The main event on the calendar is the Federal Reserve FOMC meeting (Wed).  The Fed could include new forward guidance stating that quantitative easing (QE) will continue until there is clear-cut progress toward the employment and inflation goals.  The Fed may also lengthen the average maturity of asset purchases. Central bank decisions in Hungary (Tue), UK, Norway, Indonesia, Taiwan, Philippines (all on Thu), Russia, Japan and Mexico (all on Fri) will also be in focus though no changes in policy are likely from any of them.   On the data front China activity data (Tue), Canada CPI (Wed), US retail sales (Wed), and Australian employment (Thu) will be main highlights.

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US Fiscal And UK/EU Brexit Discussions

December 7, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

The worse than expected US jobs report on Friday failed to stop the S&P 500 from registering another record high, but it does put even more pressure on US legislators to agree on a fiscal stimulus deal.  US November non-farm payrolls came in at 245,000, below the 460,000 consensus expectations and while the unemployment rate dropped to 6.7% from 6.9% previously this was all due a drop in the participation rate.  In other words the fact there are less people registering as actively looking for jobs has flattered the unemployment rate. Payrolls growth has slowed sharply and there are still 9.8 million more unemployed compared to February while further COVID restrictions point to more weakness in jobs ahead.  The good news is that some form of compromise is emerging on Capitol Hill, with a bipartisan proposal of $908 billion gaining traction, though frictions remain over aid to states and local governments and liability protections for businesses.

This week is crucial for Brexit transition deal discussions. The weekend phone call between UK PM Johnson and European Commission president von del Leyen made little progress on outstanding issues including fishing rights and level playing field.  Irish PM Martin noted that talks were on “a knife-edge”. European Union leaders are looking for a deal to be agreed upon before the European Council meeting on Thursday though time is running out.  The lack of progress is weighing on the pound (GBP), which took an initial dive this morning before recovering somewhat.  As it stands, the UK will leave the EU on December 31 with or without a deal.   Further complicating matters the UK’s Internal Market Bill, which gives ministers power to rewrite parts of the original Brexit divorce deal, will return to parliament today.

This week’s data and event slate is likely to kick off with upbeat Chinese November trade data; both exports and imports are likely to record healthy increases (Bloomberg consensus: exports 12.0% y/y, imports 7.3% y/y). The data is likely to bode well for risk sentiment, and for Chinese and Asian markets today.  Policy rates decisions in Canada and Europe will be of interest, especially with the European Central Bank (ECB) (Thu) likely to deliver a further easing.  Bank of Canada (Wed) is unlikely to reveal any major changes to policy.  Inflation data in China (Wed) and the US (Thu) are likely to reflect the disinflationary impact of COVID. Finally, the EU Leaders’ Summit may sign off on any Brexit agreement assuming there is one by then while an agreement on the EU Recovery Fund is unlikely to be reached.  

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A Stellar Month

November 29, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

November has turned into a stellar month for risk assets, with major equity benchmarks globally, especially those that are dominated by value/cyclical stocks, performing particularly well.  Investors have been willing to bypass the escalation in Covid infections in the US and Europe and instead focus on the upside potential presented by new vaccines and a new US administration, with a line up including former Federal Reserve Chair Yellen, that is likely to be more trade friendly.  Ultra-low rates and likely even more moves in a dovish direction from the Fed as well as plenty of central bank liquidity continue to support risk assets.  While challenges lie ahead (weakening growth, Covid intensification, lack of fiscal stimulus, withdrawal of Fed emergency measures) as well as technical barriers to further short-term gains, the medium-term outlook has become rosier.   

China’s economy has led the recovery and provided plenty of support to Asian markets, commodity prices and currencies. This week’s data and events kicks off with China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) (consensus. 51.5) (Mon) which is likely to remain in expansion, providing further support for China linked economies and assets.  However, the impact on oil will also depend on the OPEC+ meeting (Mon and Tue). Despite the sharp 30% rally in oil prices over the month further output increases are likely to be delayed as producers look to solidify gains. That said, a lot of good news appears to have been priced into the oil market already.  In contrast, the US dollar has been a casualty of the improvement in risk appetite and has shown little sign over reversing its losses. Subdued over recent days by year end selling, the USD may show more signs of life this week. 

The other key event this week is the Nov US jobs report (Fri) where a slowing pace of job gains is likely (consensus 500,000, last 638,000), with new COVID restrictions taking a toll on employment. US Nov ISM surveys are also likely to soften (Tue & Thu), albeit remaining firmly in expansion.  In Canada, the federal fiscal update (Mon), Q3 GDP (Tue) and jobs data (Fri) will be in focus.  Australia also releases its Q3 GDP report (Wed) while In Europe the flash Nov HICP inflation reading will garner attention but most attention will be on ongoing Brexit discussions, which seem to be stuck on remaining issues such as fishing rights. Central bank policy decisions in Australia (Tue), Poland (Wed) and India (Fri) are likely to prove uneventful, with no policy changes likely. 

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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).   

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