Finally, Back To The Economy

November 8, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

The election of President Elect Biden marks a new dawn for the US and the world.  The world had held its breath since Tuesday’s US election, wondering whether there would be four more years of the same or change.  A new Democratic President elect together with a split Congress, is arguably one of the best outcomes that markets could have hoped for, notwithstanding the fact that President Trump refuses to accept defeat. 

While the Senate is still up for grabs it seems more likely than not to stay in Republican hands; the Georgia run offs on 5 January could result in 50-50 in the Senate and effective Democrat control via Vice President elect Harris, but the probability of this is small.  As such, there seems little prospect that a Republican led Senate -– will be pliable to President elect Biden’s biding. 

Why is this good for markets?  It means that policies and members of Biden’s cabinet will likely veer towards more centrist as opposed to leftish aims.  It will for example, be difficult for Biden to hike taxes, which will take out some of the sting from a likely smaller fiscal package than Democrats had hoped for. And limited fiscal spending may keep the onus on the Fed to provide liquidity, underpinning markets further.  

Now that the Presidency has been decided, attention will turn at least in part, back to Covid and the economy.  Neither look encouraging.  Covid cases in the US have reached record levels.  US October jobs data released at the end of last week revealed an above consensus 638,000 increase in non- farm payrolls though the level of payrolls is still down a sizable 10.1mn from the level in February and the fading CARES Act spending alongside surge in Covid cases indicates risks to any further improvement going forward.

Top tier data is limited this week in the US, with inflation (CPI) as the main release on tap (Thurday).  Nonetheless, risk assets/equities are likely to continue to take on a positive tone in the wake of the election outcome. The USD is likely to remain under pressure as risk assets rally. 

A Biden presidency, split Congress bodes well for Asia.  The US stance on China would likely be more nuanced and US stance on trade would likely be more supportive.  As revealed in China’s October trade data over the weekend, exports are holding up particularly well even ahead of a Biden presidency; exports rose by a very healthy 11.4% y/y in October.  

The USD is likely to depreciate in the months ahead in the wake of a Biden win/split Congress, while US rates are likely to remain suppressed, which all point to Asian FX strength.  Fundamentals also point positively for Asia. Much of the region is recovering well from Covid related weakness, led by China, which now appears to be firing on all cylinders.

Posted in Asia, Asian currencies, Biden, Bond markets, central banks, China, COVID-19, Currencies, Economics, emerging markets, equity markets, Federal Reserve, Fiscal/Budget, FX, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, Trump, US, US administration. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

US Elections – The Proof Is In The Pudding

October 31, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

The week ahead is a huge for data and events.  First and foremost is the US Presidential election on Tuesday.  Polls show Democratic contender Biden well in the lead over President Trump, with around an 8.8% gap in polling between the two contenders.  However, Biden has lost some ground over recent weeks in polls including in key toss-up races though betting odds actually show a late shift back in favour of Biden.  Polls predict that Democrats will also take the Senate from the Republicans and add to their majority in the House. 

While the polls indicate a Blue Wave for the Democrats there is still a healthy degree of cynicism given how badly they predicted the outcome of the 2016 election, when most pollsters predicted a Hillary Clinton victory.  In recognition pollsters say they have changed their methodologies to correct for past errors.  The proof is in the pudding and until elections are over, investors will be holding their breath.  Even after election day itself, it is not clear that we will see an outcome quickly.  A jump in early voting may complicate things as well as the large amount of mail in voting, which could in some states take days to count. 

The problem may be more acute if the election is a close call, which polls are admittedly not suggesting, but nonetheless, the potential for multiple legal challenges and even civil unrest should not be discounted.  Note that States technically have until December 14 to certify election results.  Some states that will be key to either side will be Florida and Pennsylvania as well as Michigan,  North Carolina, Arizona and Wisconsin.  Florida in particular, could be essential, and could be one of the first states to be called on election night.  The winner in Florida has gone on to the win the Presidency in 13 of the 14 last elections. It is also one of the closest races this time around.

All of this is taking place at a time when Covid-19 cases are accelerating, potential a bad omen for Trump given that polls have shown widespread disapproval over his handling of the virus.  Indeed, Covid inflections in the US increased by 97,000 on Friday, the largest one day increase since the outbreak of the virus. The jump in cases were led by Midwestern states, some of which are major battleground states in the elections.  Admittedly, some of the increase in cases can be ascribed to higher testing rates, but hospitalisations have also risen sharply. 

All of this doesn’t bode well for the economy.  While the third quarter registered an above consensus increase in US GDP of 33.1% on annualised basis, the outlook for Q4 looks much softer and without a new fiscal stimulus package, momentum will slow sharply.  The labour market in particular is weak and while this week’s US October employment report will likely show a strong increase in non-farm payrolls (consensus 610,000), there will still likely be around 10 million fewer jobs since February.  The Federal Reserve FOMC meeting this week is unlikely to deliver any further support, with the onus squarely on more fiscal stimulus.

Equity markets have clearly become increasingly nervous heading into the election, with US stocks registering their worst week since March amid election nervousness and spike in Covid infections.   Tech stocks were hit despite mostly beating earnings expectations.  The US dollar in contrast, made some headway, but didn’t really fully capitalise on the sell off in stocks and rise in risk aversion, that would usually be expected to propel the currency higher.   If polls are correct and there is a strong outcome for Democrats in the election, stocks will likely find their feet again, while the US dollar will resume weakness. 

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Rocky Road

September 27, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

Despite the rally in US stocks on Friday, led by the technology sector, US stocks have fallen for four straight weeks.  The jury is still out on whether equities and risk assets in general can rally in the face of a host of uncertainties in the weeks ahead including the potential for a contested US election, fading US economic momentum, lack of progress on “Phase 4” US fiscal stimulus and a resurgence in virus cases globally.  What is clear, is that the road ahead is a rocky one, reflected in the fact that equity volatility (VIX) remains elevated and G10 FX options implied volatility around the time of the US election has spiked. 

One of the main beneficiaries of this uncertainty has been the US dollar lately, much to the detriment of precious metals given their strong inverse correlation.  It wasn’t that long ago that most commentators were writing off the USDs prospects and it’s still not clear that its recovery can persist.  The USD has hit its highest level in 2 months but will likely struggle if equities can eke out further gains in the days ahead.  In contrast, gold is trading around its lowest levels in 2 months.  While these trends may persist in the very short term, technical indicators (eg Relative Strength Index) indicate approaching overbought USD and oversold gold levels. 

This week, the main focus will be on the first US Presidential debate on Tuesday and US September jobs report at the end of the week.  While the US jobs report will likely show a relatively strong (when compared to pre-covid levels) increase in hiring (consensus around 900k), the pace of hiring is likely to slow and employment is still likely to be at least 11 million lower compared to February.  The battle for the new US Supreme Court Justice adds another twist, with President Trump announcing the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett and the Senate moving ahead to vote on this nomination this side of the election.  This has changed the dynamics ahead of the election battle, energizing voters on both sides. 

In Asia, China’s September purchasing managers indices (PMIs) and monetary policy decisions in India and Philippines will garner most attention this week.  China’s economy is emerging from the Covid crisis in good shape, helped by resilient exports performance, with medical goods and electronics exports performing particularly well.  This is likely to be reflected in China’s PMIs this week, which are set to remain in expansion territory. Meanwhile US government pressure on Chinese technology companies continues to rise, with the US government reportedly sanctioning China’s biggest chipmaker, SMIC.  This may draw a retaliatory response from China, such as adding US companies to China’s “unreliable entities” list.  

India’s Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monetary policy decision is likely to result in an unchanged outcome on Thursday.  While growth has been hit badly due to Covid-19, inflation has also spiked to well above the RBI’s target, leaving the central bank in a difficult position on policy.  Ultimately the RBI will have to ease monetary policy further, but it is unlikely to do so at its meeting on Thursday.  India’s economy is fast heading for a double-digit plunge in growth this year and unfortunately virus cases remain at very high levels.  The rupee has been resilient, however, and is unlikely to weak much further in the short term, even as the economy softens. 

Posted in Asia, Asian currencies, central banks, China, Commodities, coronavirus, COVID-19, Currencies, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, equity markets, Fiscal/Budget, FX, India, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, Trade, Trump, US, US administration. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Will Stability Return?

September 6, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

After a very nervous end to last week, with US tech stocks leading the sell-off in US equity markets amid lofty valuations, heavy positioning and stretched technical indicators, markets will look for signs that stability will return in the days ahead.  However, the November US election is increasing in prominence as a market driver, something that is beginning to manifest itself in equity volatility and will likely play more of a role for FX and rates markets volatility going forward. 

The fact that there has been little progress between Democrats and the US administration on further fiscal stimulus adds to the uncertainty for markets ahead of US elections.  Also after Fed Chair Powell’s Jackson Hole speech in which he unveiled a new average inflation strategy, markets will look for this to be reflected in forward guidance. This could happen as early as this month’s FOMC meeting on September 16 but will more likely take place later.

After a torrid several weeks the US dollar made some recovery last week amid short covering, but underlying sentiment remains weak (latest CFTC IMM data shows speculative USD positioning languishing around multi-year lows).  Whether the USD can make a more sustainable recovery remains doubtful in the weeks ahead of US elections and is more difficult given the Fed’s more dovish shift.  However, in the near term there may be more scope for short covering.

Key highlights this week are China Aug trade data today, US Aug CPI (Fri), Bank of Canada meeting (Wed), European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank Negara Malaysia (Thu).  Among these the ECB meeting will be interesting; while a policy change is unlikely the ECB will probably highlight its readiness to act further to address downside inflation risks.  The ECB may also be more vocal about the recent strengthening of the euro to a two-year high, but aside from jawboning, there is little the ECB is likely to do about it. 

Emerging markets assets have benefitted from a weaker USD and but with growth remaining under pressure as likely to be revealed in weak Russian and South African GDP data this week while Covid cases in many EM countries continue to rise rapidly, risks remain high.  China’s trade data will give some early direction this week, but with US-China trade tensions only likely to escalate further, the outlook for emerging markets assets is clouded in uncertainty. 

Posted in Asia, Asian currencies, Bond markets, Canada, central banks, China, COVID-19, Currencies, ECB, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, equity markets, Europe, eurozone, Federal Reserve, Fiscal/Budget, FX, Interest rates, Malaysia, Monetary Policy, Politics, Trade, Trump, US, US administration. Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Tough Times for the US Dollar

August 2, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

The US dollar had an awful July, with the USD index dropping by around 5% over the month, its worst monthly performance in 10 years. A range of factors can be cited for USD weakness including an asset allocation shift to assets outside of the US, worsening news on US Covid cases over recent weeks, improved risk appetite, US election concerns, lower real yields and fiscal cliff worries, among other factors.  Gold has been a particularly strong beneficiary of the malaise in the USD and declining real yield yields.  The Fed’s pledge to keep on aggressively supporting the economy and likely strengthening of forward guidance in the months ahead suggest that any increase in US interest rates could be years off.

It is still difficult to see the recent weakness in the USD resulting in a deterioration in its dominant reserve currency status though the longer the factors noted above remain in place, the bigger the danger to longer term confidence in the USD. As a reminder of such risks Fitch ratings downgraded US AAA credit rating to a negative outlook.  I do not expect markets and the USD to be impacted by the move, but it does highlight a worsening in US fundamentals.  While other currencies are still a long away from displacing the USD dominance in FX reserves, financial flows, FX trading and trade, the longer term risks to the USD are clear.

That said, the USD caught a bid at the end of last week resulting in a sharp retreat in the euro (EUR) from heavily overbought technical levels.  It is unlikely to be a coincide that this occurred as US Covid cases showed signs of peaking while cases in many parts of Europe began to accelerate, resulting in delays to opening up or renewed tightening of social distancing measures there.  US stocks have also continued to perform well, despite much discussion of a rotation to value stocks.  Solid earnings from US tech heavyweights solidified their position as leaders of the pack.  It is too early to say that this is the beginning of a USD turnaround, but the currency is heavily oversold in terms of positioning and technicals, which point to room for some respite.

Turning to the week ahead attention will be on July global Purchasing Managers Indices (PMI) data beginning with China’s private sector Caixin PMI (consensus 51.1), and the US ISM survey (consensus 53.6) tomorrow.  Central bank decisions include the Reserve Bank of Australia (Tue), Bank of England (Thu), Reserve Bank of India (Thu) and Bank of Thailand (Wed).  No change is likely from the RBA, BoE and BoT, but expect a 25bp cut from RBI.  At the end of the week two pieces of data will take precedence; US July jobs data and China July trade data.  US-China tensions will come under further scrutiny after President Trump vowed to ban TikTok in the US while pouring cold water on a sale to a third party.

 

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