USD bounces back, JPY to strengthen, AUD rallies

November 8, 2012 — Mitul Kotecha

To put it mildly there was plenty of volatility in the wake of the US elections. Equities reacted badly as the prospects of higher taxes as part of a solution to resolving the fiscal cliff in the US came back into the frame. worries outweighed any positive impact from the potential for Fed QE to continue in its current form without the risk of being curtailed by Republican President.

Poor data out of Europe contributed to the market malaise as the growth trajectory into Q4 continued to worsen. The passage of Greek austerity measures through parliament failed to undo the damage. German industrial production fell sharply, down 1.8% MoM while downward growth revisions / upward deficit revisions from the European Commission dealt another blow to sentiment.

Growing pressure on the German economy may at the least prompt a more dovish stance at the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting today while the Bank of England (BoE) is set to increase its asset purchases today although it will be a close call on this front.

The USD came under pressure in the immediate aftermath of US President Obama’s victory. However, it didn’t take long for the usual higher risk aversion, stronger USD relationship to kick in, with the USD subsequently reversing all its losses and more. With elections out of the way markets are waking up to the reality of the considerable challenge ahead in resolving the fiscal cliff. Risk assets clearly don’t like what they see.

As only September US trade data and November Michigan confidence are left on the US calendar this week risk gyrations will continue to drive the USD though I suspect that gains will be restricted in the wake of lower US bond yields.

Most currencies except the JPY took advantage of a weaker USD but finally USD/JPY dropped on the back of the jump in risk aversion. The drop in US bond yields and the output of my quantitative models both suggest that the JPY should be firmer against the USD. The recently more aggressive stance of the Bank of Japan taken together with warnings of FX intervention may be helping to keep the JPY on the back foot, however.

Given that speculative JPY positioning has turned negative over recent weeks the BoJ’s stance maybe having some impact in shifting FX expectations especially as it has fuelled some portfolio outflows from Japan over recent weeks. Nonetheless, it won’t take long for JPY bears to become frustrated with the lack of downside traction in the currency, with USD/JPY subsequently set to edge back towards the 79.00 level

Stronger than expected Australian jobs numbers helped to boost the AUD this morning. Jobs were up 18.7k in October much more than consensus. Even better was the details of the report, with full time jobs up 18.7k and part time down 8k. The unemployment rate was at 5.4%, lower than expected. Overall, a solid report and in stark contrast to NZ jobs data this morning. The data will certainly give more juice to AUD/NZD and corresponds with my quant models looking for NZD downside and AUD resilience. The data will also likely dampen further expectations of another rate cut by the RBA in December which in any case looks like a close call.

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Negative yields hit the euro

November 6, 2012 — Mitul Kotecha

Market participants will be distracted by today’s US Presidential election and Thursday’s transfer of leadership in China. The USD seems to be enjoying strength despite a slight lead in the polls by President Obama. The consensus view is that a Romney win would be USD positive given that it may imply a more restrictive Fed in the form of less QE but the USD appears to be ignoring such polls.

The EUR is the worst performing currency so far this month after the CHF. Greek and Spanish concerns are placing a growing weight on the EUR the former due to tomorrow’s vote on austerity measures and the latter due to worsening economic data and a lack of traction towards requesting a bailout and thus activating the European Central Bank’s bond purchase program.

A massive weight on the EUR is the fact that Germany 2 year bond yields have turned negative, leading a widening US yield advantage and in turn a weaker EUR/USD. Indeed, the correlation between 2 year US – German yield differentials is very high, implying that the EUR will struggle below its 200 day moving average around 1.2828 until German yields push higher.

A generally firmer USD has also dealt a blow GBP, with the currency slipping below 1.6000. Notably GBP is holding up well against the EUR. Industrial and manufacturing production data today will give some direction to the currency but the news is unlikely to be positive, with a further sharp decline expected in September.

Thereafter attention will swiftly turn to the Bank of England policy decision on Thursday, where the decision will be a close call but we look for an additional GBP 25 billion in asset purchases to be announced. GBP could face some pressure in this event but given that the currency not been particularly impacted from QE in the past, we doubt that it will suffer a severe blow. However, the BoE action may help to stem the decline in EUR/GBP, with support seen around 0.7956.

AUD has lost some steam this week as speculative longs have been cut back ahead of the RBA policy decision. The pull back has largely to do with a generally firmer USD, some deterioration in risk appetite and lower commodity prices than any shift in policy expectations, however.

The market is pricing in around a 50% probability of a rate cut today Given that this is not fully priced in, the AUD is vulnerable in the wake of a rate cut. However, much will depend on the accompanying statement. Given that recent domestic and Chinese data have been a bit more encouraging we doubt that the statement will be particularly dovish, suggesting that downside risks to AUD will be limited to technical support around 1.0305 versus USD.

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US dollar on the front foot

November 5, 2012 — Mitul Kotecha

Worries about earnings have resulted in a lacklustre performance for equity markets and a gradual increase in risk aversion over recent days. Nonetheless, economic data especially in the US continues to be encouraging as revealed by a spate of recent releases culminating in the October US jobs report which revealed a 171k increase in payrolls and upward revisions to previous months. Although the unemployment rate ticked higher to 7.9%, the trend is one of gradual but unspectacular improvement.

This has provided some support to the USD but notably US bond yields have not reacted much, leaving the USD a little vulnerable to any slippage. Commodity prices continue to be pressured, with a firmer USD and better US data fuelling further downside. The trend is set to continue over coming days especially if the data releases result in reduced expectations for more US quantitative easing.

The USD is likely to remain firm benefitting from weaker economic data elsewhere and a lack of progress with regard to Greece and Spain. Missed debt and deficit targets in Greece highlight the tough task ahead although Greek officials appear to be hopeful that they will receive the votes needed in votes on Wednesday and Sunday to pass reforms and budget cuts demanded by lenders.

This week there will of course be plenty of attention on US elections and various permutations of the outcome and its impact on markets. Polls show that the Presidential race is too close to call although the House and Senate races look like delivering the status quo. The worst case scenario for markets is for a prolonged period of uncertainty if the results produce no clear cut result which could ultimately undermine the USD.

Aside from the elections central bank decisions from the European Central Bank, Bank of England and Reserve Bank of Australia will also garner attention. While an unchanged outcome from the ECB is likely, both the BoE and RBA are set to ease policy further, the former in the form of a GBP 25 billion increase in quantitative easing and the latter with a 25bps policy rate cut. In Europe, the 8 November Eurogroup meeting will also be in focus as officials discuss progress on Greece’s next loan tranche.

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CNY influence on Asian FX continues to grow

October 31, 2012 — Mitul Kotecha

Asian currencies remain generally well supported both by a softer tone to the USD in general as well as a stronger Chinese currency, CNY. Since the USD/RMB high of 6.3964 on 25 July the RMB has appreciated by around 2.4% vs. USD. This equates to an annualized pace of appreciation of around 6.2%. The RMB is unlikely to continue to strengthen at such a rapid pace and could even be prone to a softer tone into year end.

Potential renewed weakness in the CNY could presage downside risks to Asian currencies. Also worth noting is the fact that equity portfolio capital inflows to Asian have slackened over recent weeks (Indonesia, Philippines and Taiwan registered outflows over October), a factor that could also pose risks to Asian currencies.

The influence of the RMB on Asian FX has continued to grow. Correlations or sensitivities between Asian currencies and the CNY remain are stronger than Asian FX sensitivities to USD movements. The implication is that USD index gyrations are having less influence on Asian currencies.

The most correlated currencies with the CNY are KRW, SGD and TWD although all Asian currencies with the exception of the INR register statistically significant correlations with the movements of USD/CNY. Notably our quantitative models show that the KRW, SGD and TWD are overbought relative to their short term fair value estimates.

While the USD is still influential in driving some Asian currencies several currencies including KRW, CNY and IDR do not possess a statistically significant sensitivity to the USD over the past 3-months. Should the CNY undergo renewed weakness it will mean that the currencies noted above namely KRW, SGD and TWD will be the most vulnerable to weakness given their high sensitivity to CNY.

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US dollar to edge higher

October 29, 2012 — Mitul Kotecha

As US elections approach the USD appears to be holding up reasonably well, edging higher against major currencies including EUR and JPY helped in some part by a recent increase in risk aversion. Notably Asian currencies remain firm taking their cue from a firmer CNY rather than the slightly stronger USD. The notable break below 1100 for USD/KRW highlights the still strong impetus for Asian currencies.

Although a fixation with the outcome of the US elections may limit market movements the USD is likely to remain generally well supported ahead of the important US October jobs report. In general US data this week will look relatively positive, with consumer confidence, the October manufacturing ISM survey and likely to move higher in October. Non farm payrolls in October are also likely to be stronger than the September increase although the unemployment rate may edge higher to around 7.9%.

In contrast progress in the Eurozone on the debt front is frustratingly slow, with little sign of any request for Spanish financial assistance. At least there appears to be some traction in Greece, with agreement on spending cuts amounting to around EUR 13.5 billion to be deliberated this week opening the door to the next disbursement of loans to the country. Lack of progress in Spain taken together with superior US data (note economic sentiment gauges in Europe are set to reveal a deterioration tomorrow) will weigh on the EUR, with the currency likely to continue to drift lower, with a test of 1.2825 on the cards.

The JPY has been a relatively exciting currency over recent days, having weakened against the USD in the wake of higher US bond yields. Expectations of additional easing by Japan’s central bank at its meeting tomorrow are also helping to put pressure on the JPY. The BoJ is expected to announce an additional JPY 200 billion of purchases of Exchange Traded Funds and additional purchases of JGBs. Such action has partly been priced in and while the JPY will remain under some short term pressure a sustained break above USD/JPY 80 appears unlikely unless the central bank delivers more aggressive measures than anticipated.

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