Optimism dissipates

January 23, 2010 — Mitul Kotecha

Markets have been highly fickle so far this year. Optimism about strong recovery led by China – recall the fact that disappointment from the surprisingly weak US non-farm payrolls report in December was outweighed by strong Chinese trade data – has dissipated. Instead of rejoicing at China’s robust GDP report last week, which revealed a 10.7% rise in the fourth quarter of 2009, investors began to fret about whether China would have to move more aggressively to tighten monetary policy. Fuelling these fears was the release of Consumer price data which showed inflation rising above expectations to 1.9% YoY in China.

If such fears were not sufficient to hit risk appetite, US President Obama’s plan to limit the size and trading activities of financial institutions dealt another blow to financial stocks. The plan followed quickly after the Democrats lost the state of Massachusetts to the Republicans and managed to shake confidence in bank stocks whilst fuelling increased risk aversion. Meanwhile, rumblings about Greece continue to weigh on markets and Greek debt spreads continued to widen even as global bond markets rallied.

Following the US administration’s plans to restrict banks’ activities the fact that the rise in risk aversion was US led rather than broad based led to an eventual pull back in the dollar which helped EUR/USD to avoid a break below 1.40. Risk trades including the AUD came under pressure as risk appetite pulled back. A drop in commodity prices did not help. The AUD was also hit by news that Australia’s Henry Tax Review would look to tax miners in the country. As a result AUD/USD dropped below 0.90 though this level is likely to provide good buying levels for those wanted to take medium term AUD long positions. The one currency that did benefit was the JPY which managed to drop below sub 90 levels.

The aftermath of the “Volker Plan” will reverberate around markets this week keeping a lid on equity sentiment. Meanwhile Greece will be in the spotlight especially its bond syndication. A bad outcome could be the trigger for EUR/USD to sustain a move below 1.40 though it looks as though it may find a bottom around current levels, with strong support seen around 1.4029. The German IFO business survey for January will be important to provide some direction for EUR and could be a factor that weighs on the currency if as expected it reveals some loss of momentum in the economy.

Aside from the Fed the other G3 central bank to meet this week is the Bank of Japan but unless the Bank is seen to be serious about fighting deflation, USD/JPY may remain under downward pressure against the background of elevated risk aversion. Below 90.0 there does appear to be plenty of USD/JPY buyers however, suggesting that further upside for the JPY will be limited. USD/JPY will find strong support around 88.84.

Much will depend on the key events in the US this week including the Fed FOMC meeting and the President’s State of the Union speech. USD bulls will look for some indication that the US government is serious about cutting the burgeoning budget deficit. Also watch out for the confirmation vote on the renomination of Bernanke as Fed Chairman which could end up being close. There is a heavy slate of data to contend with including new and existing home sales, consumer confidence, durable goods orders, the first glance at Q4 GDP and Chicago PMI.

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Contrasting the ECB with the Fed

November 23, 2009 — Mitul Kotecha

Whether its year end book closing/profit taking and/or renewed doubts about the shape of recovery, asset markets have turned south recently.  Investor mood appears to be souring as risk aversion creeps back into the market psyche.  A string of disappointing US data releases over the last week including core retail sales, Empire manufacturing, industrial production, and housing starts, contributed to the reduced appetite for risk, resulting in a soft finish to the week for equity markets and a firmer USD.

Things are likely to take a turn for the better this week, however. Data will shed a little more light on the pace and magnitude of economic recovery and could result in some improvement in appetite for risk trades.  Despite an expected downward revision to US Q3 GDP, forward looking data on home sales, durable goods orders and personal income and spending as well as consumer confidence are likely to reveal increases.  In the Eurozone, data economic releases will paint a similar picture, including an expected increase in the closely watched barometer of business confidence, the German IFO survey. 

At the least economic data will remove some, but by no means all doubts about a relapse in the recovery process.  There is no doubting the veracity of the recovery in equity and commodity prices, despite doubts about its sustainability. Central banks may not react uniformly to this and the policy impact could vary significantly.  Already it appears that the ECB is moving more quickly towards an exit strategy compared to the Fed.  Although ECB President Trichet highlighted that the crisis is far from over at the end of last week, the Bank announced tougher standards for asset backed securities used as collateral, indicating that the need to provide emergency support to banks is much lower than it was. 

Clearly the ECB wants to avoid letting the market become over dependent on the central bank and will look to implement measures to this aim.  In contrast, the Fed is showing little sign of beginning this process and at least one member of the FOMC, namely St. Louis Fed President Bullard, was quoted over the weekend advocating that the Fed keep its MBS buying programme beyond its scheduled close in March. Evidence of the contrasting stance is also reflected in the fact that the Fed’s balance sheet is expanding once again whilst the ECB’s is contracting.  As a result of firmer data and comments by Bullard the USD is set to go into the week under renewed pressure, albeit within well defined ranges.

Posted in central banks, Currencies, Economics, Economy, Europe, FX, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, US. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Contemplating Rate Hikes

October 28, 2009 — Mitul Kotecha

The market mood has definitely soured and risk appetite has faltered.  This is good for the USD but bad for relatively high yielding/commodity risk trades. The USD is set to retain a firm tone over the near term even if is temporary, which I believe it is.  

Whether it’s profit taking on crowded risk trades, a lot of good news having already been priced in, fears that other countries will follow Brazil’s example of taxing capital inflows to dampen currency strength, or a reaction to weaker economic data, it is clear that there are many reasons to be cautious. 

It is also unlikely to be coincidental that the rise in risk aversion and drop in equity markets is happening at a time when many central banks are contemplating exit strategies and when many investors are pondering the timing of interest rates hikes globally following the moves by Australia and Israel. 

One of the reasons for the worsening in market mood is that some parts of the global economy may not be ready for rate hikes.  Certainly there is little chance of a US rate hike on the horizon and perhaps not until 2011 given the prospects of a sub par economic recovery.  This projection was given support by the surprise drop in US consumer confidence in October.

It is not just the US that is unlikely to see a quick reversal in monetary policy.  As indicated by the bigger than expected decline in annual M3 money supply growth in the eurozone, which hit its lowest level since the series began in 1980, as well as the drop in bank loans to the private sector, the ECB will be in no hurry to wind down its non-standard monetary policy measures. 

The chances of any shift in policy at next week’s ECB meeting are minimal, with the ECB’s cautious stance emboldened by the subdued money supply and credit data.  As long as EUR/USD remains below 1.50 ECB President Trichet is also unlikely to step up his rhetoric on the strength of the EUR.  

Although the major economies of US, Eurozone, Japan and UK are likely to maintain current policies for a long while yet, the stance is not shared elsewhere.  The Reserve Bank of India did not raise interest rates following its meeting this week but edged in this direction by requiring banks to buy more T-bills. Other central banks in the region are set to move in this direction.

In terms of developed economies, Norway was the latest to join the club hiking rates by 25bps and adding to the growing list of countries starting the process of policy normalisation.   Australia is set to hike rates again at next week’s meeting although a 50bps hike looks unlikely, with a 25bps move more likely. 

Posted in Asia, Bond markets, central banks, Commodities, Currencies, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, equity markets, India, Interest rates, Japan, Monetary Policy, UK, US. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Economic reality check supports dollar

October 2, 2009 — Mitul Kotecha

The US dollar appears to be making a tentative recovery of sorts at least when taking a look at the performance of the US dollar index.  Much of this can be attributable to a softer tone to equities. The S&P 500 registered its biggest back to back quarterly rally since 1975 over Q3 and either through profit taking or renewed economic doubts, stocks may be in for shakier ground into Q4. 

This increase in equity pressure/risk aversion is being triggered by weaker data. Since the Fed FOMC on 24th September the run of US data has generally disappointed expectations; in addition to the ISM survey, existing and new home sales, durable goods orders, consumer confidence and ADP jobs data all failed to match forecasts.   This list was joined by the September jobs data which revealed a bigger than expected 263k drop in payrolls.  Consequently doubts about the pace of recovery have intensified as markets face up to a reality check.

The dollar’s firmer tone is not just being helped by weaker stocks but also by plenty of official speakers discussing currency moves. Although this is potentially a dangerous game considering the recent turnaround in Japanese official comments on the Japanese yen the net effect is to support the dollar.  In particular, Treasury Secretary Geithner stressed the importance of a strong dollar, whilst European officials including Trichet, Almunia and Junker appear to have become more concerned with the strength of the euro. 

In the current environment such comments will contribute to putting further pressure on the euro which in any case has lagged the strengthening in other currencies against the dollar over recent months.   Although ECB President Trichet highlighted “excess volatility” in his comments about currencies overnight implied FX volatility is actually relatively low having dropped significantly over recent months.  The real reason for European official FX concerns is quite simply the fact that the eurozone remains highly export dependent and that recovery will be slower the stronger the euro becomes.  

It’s not just G10 officials that are becoming concerned about currency strength against the dollar as Asian central banks have not only been jawboning but also intervening to prevent their currencies from strengthening against the dollar.   A firmer dollar tone is likely to put Asian currencies on the back foot helping to alleviate some of the upward pressure over the short term but the overall direction for Asian FX is still upwards.

Posted in Asia, central banks, Currencies, Economics, Economy, equity markets, Europe, Japan, US. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Saturated by good news

August 27, 2009 — Mitul Kotecha

We are currently moving into an environment where economic data is becoming less and less influential in moving markets and this could continue for some weeks.  The bottom line is that so much recovery news is in the price that the continuing run of better than forecast data are having only a limited impact.  Over recent days this run has included firmer than forecast readings on US manufacturing sentiment, consumer sentiment, housing activity and durable goods orders.  The market has become saturated with good news and is showing signs of fatigue.  

Just take a look at the reaction to the latest numbers. Equity markets barely flinched in reaction to positive data including a surge in new home sales and a jump in durable goods orders.  In Europe, the German IFO recorded its biggest increase since 1996.  Perhaps the subdued market reaction was due to the details of some of the reports which could have been considered as not as upbeat as the headlines suggested.  However, this explain is tenuous at best.  

News that China’s state council is studying restrictions on overcapacity in industries including steel and cement will not have helped market sentiment as concerns about Chinese growth are likely to resurface. Nonetheless, the most likely explanation for the lack of momentum in markets is fatigue.  There have been plenty of positive data surprises over recent weeks and markets have become increasingly desensitised to such news. 

Another explanation of the failure of positive data to boost sentiment is that risk appetite is almost back to pre-crisis levels according to many indicators I follow.  Indeed, further impetus for risk currencies will be more limited in the months ahead as the room for a further decline in risk aversion is becoming more limited.

This combined with growing fatigue will have interesting consequences. Firstly it suggests a degree of dollar and yen resilience over coming weeks and growing pressure on risk trades, especially commodity currencies which will suffer disproportionately to fears about Chinese growth and lower commodities demand. 

Nonetheless, consolidation in the weeks ahead rather than any sharp moves is the most likely path.  Although the overall trend of improving risk appetite will continue it is already becoming evident that it will take a lot more to drive risk appetite higher than a steady stream of data showing that the global economy is turning around. In any case, currencies have become less sensitive to the gyrations in risk suggesting that other influences will be sought in the months ahead.  In the meantime range trading will continue. 

The reduced swings in currencies have taken FX largely off the radar as far as policy makers are concerned and it is difficult to see the topic being a major issue at upcoming policy meetings. Lower currency volatility is clearly a boon for policy makers and reflects some “normalisaiton” in currency markets. It perhaps also reflects the fact that FX valuations are less of out synch than they were a few months back, with the USD far less overvalued against many currencies.

Posted in Asia, China, Commodities, Currencies, Economics, Economy, equity markets, Europe, Germany, US. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »
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