Unloved US Dollar

July 16, 2010 — Mitul Kotecha

The USD index is now at its lowest level since May 3 and is showing little sign of turning around. The bulk of USD index weakness overnight came via the EUR and GBP, both of which rose sharply against the USD, with EUR/USD breaching its 90 day moving, hitting a high of 1.2955 and GBP/USD on its way to testing its 200 day moving average, reaching a high of 1.5472. Commodity currencies fared far less positively, perhaps feeling the after effects of the weaker Chinese data this week, with the NZD also dented by weaker than expected inflation data in Q2.

The USD was once again hit by US growth worries. To recap, the US data slate revealed a soft reading for PPI, whilst the July Empire manufacturing index dropped 14.5 points, a far bigger drop than forecast. The Philly Fed index also dropped further in July despite expectations of a small gain. In contrast, June industrial production edged higher, but manufacturing output actually fell. There was a bit of good news in the fact that weekly jobless claims fell more than forecast.

The releases extended the run of weak US data, keeping double-dip fears very much alive. The data have acted to validate the Fed’s cautious growth outlook expressed in the latest FOMC minutes but a double-dip is unlikely. Today’s releases include June CPI, May TIC securities flows, and July Michigan confidence. Another benign inflation report is expected. Consumer confidence is set to slip further against the background of soft data and volatility in equity markets whilst TICS data is forecast to reveal that long term securities flows declined in May compared to the $83 billion inflows registered in April.

The move in the EUR is a making a mockery out of forecasts including my own that had expected renewed downside. The relatively successful Spanish bond auction yesterday helped to ease eurozone sovereign debt concerns further, with a likely strong element of Asian participation. I have still not given up on my EUR negative view given the likelihood of a deteriorating economic outlook in the eurozone and outperfomance of the US economy, but over the short-term the EUR short squeeze may have further to go, with EUR/USD resistance seen at 1.3077.

Equity markets were saved from too much of a beating following the release of better than expected earnings from JP Morgan, a $550mn agreement between Goldman Sachs and the SEC to settle a regulatory case, and news from BP that it has temporarily stemmed the flow of oil from the leak from its Gulf well. Agreement on the US financial reform bill, passed by the Senate yesterday and likely to be signed into law by US President Obama next week, likely helped too.

The tone of the market is likely to be mixed today, with US growth concerns casting a shadow on risk trades. Earnings remain in focus and the big name releases today include BoA, GE and Citigroup but early direction could be negative following news after the US close that Google Inc. profits came in below analysts’ expectations. Data in the US today is unlikely to help sentiment given expectations of more weak outcomes, leaving the USD vulnerable to further selling pressure.

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Shaking Off The Bad News

April 20, 2010 — Mitul Kotecha

Markets managed to shake off the initial shock of the SEC’s fraud case against Goldman Sachs following news that the charge was not approved unanimously, but with a 3-2 vote. This was interpreted by some to imply that there was more of a political rather than economic bias behind the charge, with two Democrats voting for and two Republicans voting against and SEC Chairman Schapiro siding with the Democrats.

Stronger than forecast earnings from Citigroup and a bigger than expected 1.4% jump in US March leading indicators also helped to calm market nerves, with US equities closing higher and the VIX volatility index reversing some of its spike higher. Attention is still firmly fixed on earnings and with 121 S&P 500 companies due to release earnings this week including Apple, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson and Yahoo today.

Nonetheless, it is difficult to see sentiment improve too much against the background of ongoing worries about Greece as reflected in the renewed widening in Greek debt spreads yesterday. Moreover, the negative economic impact of the spread of volcanic ash from Iceland, and potential for more lawsuits related to CDOs from regulators as well as investors, against banks, will continue to act as a drag on market risk appetite.

Earnings have been positive so far into the season and as seen overnight, this is helping to counter market negatives, giving risk appetite some support. In turn, this will give risk currencies some relief but given the gyrations between positive and negative news it is difficult to see most currencies breaking out of recent ranges.

My overall bias is for positive earnings and data to overcome the negatives this week, leaving the likes of the AUD, NZD and CAD as well Asian currencies firmer. The EUR and GBP are likely to remain the weakest links, with both currencies set to retrace lower and EUR/USD finding plenty of sellers above 1.3500.

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Q4 earnings and Chinese data

January 18, 2010 — Mitul Kotecha

Since the start of the year the market has gyrated from “risk on” to “risk off” and back again. On balance the overall tone has been just about positive, with firmer economic data, most notably in China outweighing sovereign debt concerns in Greece and elsewhere. Although debt concerns are unlikely to dissipate quickly, especially given Greece’s inability to convince markets of its plans to cut its burgeoning budget deficit, the “risk on” tone is likely to win.

“Risk off” may be the tone at the start of the week however, as US equities ended the week on a negative note ahead of the Martin Luther King holidays. The holidays will likely keep trading slow. Data wise the main US events housing starts on Wednesday and the Philly Fed on Thursday. Q4 US earnings are likely to take a bigger share of market attention as the earnings season rolls on. Bank earnings will be a key focus, with Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, BoA, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs set to report this week.

Given the growing influence of Chinese data on markets the monthly data pack from China will capture more attention than usual on Thursday. In particular, GDP and inflation data will be of most interest. GDP data is likely to reveal an acceleration in growth in Q4 YoY to above 10% but given worries about over heating and following last week’s tightening in China’s monetary policy CPI data will be closely scrutinized. Inflation is likely to pick up further maintaining the pressure for further monetary tightening as well as a stronger CNY.

Elsewhere, in the eurozone the main event is the German ZEW survey tomorrow, which is likely to show further signs of flagging, due to Greek concerns. There is also an interest rate decision to contend with; the Bank of Canada is unlikely to surprise markets as it keeps policy unchanged tomorrow. The UK has a relatively heavier data slate, with CPI tomorrow, Bank of England minutes on Wednesday and retail sales at the end of the week.

The UK data kicked off on a positive note this week, with house prices rising 0.4% MoM in January and 4.1% YoY according to UK property website Rightmove, the biggest annual gain in over a year. Moreover, activity on Rightmove’s website reached a record high in the first full week of the year. The data as well as expectations that Kraft will raise its bid for Cadbury will likely help GBP in addition to other GBP positive M&A news. GBP/USD will look to test resistance around 1.6365 this week.

After a slightly firmer start helped by the weak close to US equity markets on Friday the USD is likely to generally trade on the back foot over the week. Speculative sentiment for the USD has definitely soured into the new-year as reflected in the CFTC IMM data which revealed a big jump in net short positions in the week ending 12 January 2010. Net aggregate USD positions shifted from +1.6k to -51.9k over the week, with the main beneficiaries being the EUR, and risk trades including AUD, NZD and CAD.

Posted in Asia, central banks, China, Currencies, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, equity markets, Europe, Fiscal/Budget, FX, Germany, Greece, Interest rates, US. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »