ECB risks, more JPY jawboning, Asian FX supported

July 31, 2012 — Mitul Kotecha

Risk assets have given back some of their Draghi inspired gains but expectations of European Central Bank action on Thursday continues to provide a solid underpinning for markets. Although European equities closed higher US equities slipped while the VIX ‘fear gauge’ rose. Ahead of the ECB policy decision attention will be on whether German resistance to a more aggressive ECB stance eases. Given that markets have priced in a positive outcome the risks are asymmetric in the days ahead, with a bigger sell off in risk assets should policy makers disappoint.

One indicator worth highlighting is the Baltic Dry Index which has dropped by over 20% from its high on 9 July and continues to head south, indicating rising global growth risks. Economic data releases including the Eurozone ‘flash’ July Eurozone inflation data, and US July consumer confidence will offer some direction for markets but we suspect that a tone of consolidation will continue ahead of the ECB and Fed meetings and the July US jobs report at the end of the week.

Japan continues to jawbone about the strength of the JPY, with Finance Minister Azumi delivering a further threat of FX intervention. Azumi notes that the advance of the JPY has been one sided, does not reflect fundamentals and that no measures will be ruled out when it comes too FX action when needed. He also hints that any intervention may be supported by other countries. It is doubtful that Azumi is setting the scene for actual intervention although a sustained drop below 78.00 will sharply raise the odds of Japanese official JPY selling.

EUR/USD looks supported above 1.2118 but a drift lower is likely ahead of the ECB meeting. Reports in Der Spiegel that Draghi’s pledge of action has created discord within the ECB while Germany continues to resist action to restart the ECB’s securities market purchase programme. The risk is that Draghi has set the ECB and risk assets up for a fall if agreement cannot be reached ahead of the ECB policy meeting.

Asian currencies look supported going in the near term and its worth noting that equity portfolio flows to the region have pocked up over recent days led by South Korea. The USD will be restrained ahead of the Fed meeting allowing Asian currencies to grind higher. We favour KRW and IDR although gains are likely to be limited ahead of the key central bank policy decisions this week. On that note, a likely unchanged decision from the RBI in India today, may act as further disappointment for the INR.

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Hopes run high ahead of major central bank decisions

July 30, 2012 — Mitul Kotecha

Expectations are running high that central bankers will deliver on further policy steps at the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England meetings this week. Indeed, following strong hints by ECB President Draghi last week, which provoked a rally in global markets, there are high hopes that the ECB restarts its bond buying programme.

Opposition by Germany’s Bundesbank could result in disappointment, however. A meeting today between Draghi and Bundesbank president Weidmann will shed further light on the issue. Also on the table is the potential for the ESM bailout fund to be given a banking licence though this seems unlikely any time soon. Given the rally in risk assets at the end of last week, any lack of action by policy makers this week will provoke significant disappointment.

Similarly a run of weaker US and UK data has led to growing hopes that the Fed and BoE will also ease policy further on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. While recent press speculation suggests that the Fed is edging closer to further balance sheet expansion the Fed FOMC may want to wait for further news on the economic front before embarking on more quantitative easing.

Meanwhile, the BoE appears to be edging towards further easing too, but rather than more QE a rate cut is looking like the preferred option. I suspect that such action at this week’s monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting is unlikely, however. Adding to the drama of this week’s events is the US July jobs report at the end of this week and yet another lacklustre report is expected, with consensus forecasts for a 100k increase in jobs.

Currency markets are likely to settle into ranges ahead of the key events above. The USD lost a fair bit of ground over recent sessions but further direction will await the ECB and Fed meetings. EUR/USD looks firmly settled above support around 1.2241 but upside traction will be limited until there is further clarification from the ECB. I suspect that last week’s short squeeze has run its course, with a further drop in peripheral Eurozone bond yields required to drive the EUR higher.

Asian currencies look well supported in the near term ahead of the major policy decisions. The SGD and KRW have led gains over the past week and their high degree of sensitivity to risk suggests that they should continue to outperform. The INR has also edged higher on the back of firming risk appetite but much will depend on the outcome of the RBI meeting tomorrow. According to my quantitative models the PHP and TWD will underperform.

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Draghi shakes things up

July 27, 2012 — Mitul Kotecha

European Central Bank President Draghi shook things up overnight providing a major backstop for risk assets. Draghi effectively noted that the ECB “is going to do whatever is necessary to preserve the EUR”. The aggressiveness of his comments left no doubt that the ECB chief means business.

Whether this translates into renewed bond buying by the central bank is debatable but this is what the market is now hoping for at next week’s ECB policy meeting. Anything less would provoke disappointment.

At the least Draghi has helped to put a floor under the EUR ahead of the policy meeting. After dropping to a low around 1.2117 the currency bounced sharply but its gains were exhibited mainly against the USD rather than on the crosses. Further short covering could see EUR/USD move up to around the 1.2350 resistance level but much further gains are expected to be limited.

The biggest beneficiaries of Draghi’s comments were equity volatility which dropped sharply and Spanish stocks, which rallied by over 6% yesterday. Gold also rallied in the hope of central bank action next week. In terms of Asian currencies, those most sensitive to risk gyrations including KRW, MYR, INR and IDR will be the biggest beneficiaries.

Attention today will turn to data releases including July German inflation data and Q2 US GDP. A weak US GDP may put a bit of a dampener on sentiment especially as it will highlight the sharp slowing in growth over the quarter.

Nonetheless, markets are likely to move into consolidation mode ahead of next week’s ECB and Fed meetings, with risk assets generally supported by expectations / hopes of policy actions by both or either central bank. One index which remains on a downward trajectory is the Baltic Dry Index, which dropped further overnight, highlighting the growing risks to the global economy.

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Euphoria fades, risk currencies weaker

October 31, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

The euphoria emanating from last week’s eurozone agreement will likely fade into this week as renewed doubts creep in. Details of how the EFSF bailout fund will be leveraged or how the special purpose vehicle will be utilised have yet to emerge while the firewall to protect countries such as Italy and Spain may still be insufficient given that the use of the European Central Bank (ECB) to provide unlimited support has been ruled out.

With more questions than answers markets will be hungry for further details over coming weeks and until then it is difficult to see risk appetite stretching too far. One indication of such concern was the fact that Italy’s borrowing costs climbed to euro-era highs the day after the European Union (EU) plan was agreed. The G20 meeting on 3-4 November will be eyed for further developments as well as further reaction to the EU agreement.

There are plenty of events to digest this week that could add to any market nervousness. In terms of central banks we do not expect to see any change in policy stance from the ECB, Federal Reserve or Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) this week but the decisions may be close calls. The ECB under the helm of new President Draghi will be under pressure to ease policy as growth momentum has clearly weakened but the Bank will likely hold off for the December meeting when new growth and inflation forecasts will be released.

The RBA may also take some solace from a better global economic and market climate but the market disagrees having priced in a cut this week. The Fed will look to see how ‘Operation Twist” is faring before moving again but recent indications from some Fed officials suggest growing support for purchases of mortgage backed securities.

On the data front eurozone inflation today will be the key number in Europe while the US jobs report at the end of the week will be the main release in the US. Ahead of the payrolls data, clues will be garnered from the ISM manufacturing data and ADP jobs report. The consensus is for a 95k increase in non-farm payrolls and the unemployment to remain at 9.1% maintaining the trend of only gradual improvement in the US jobs market.

Recent data releases have turned less negative, however, and at the least have helped to alleviate renewed recessionary concerns. Overall, I suspect that markets will come back down to the reality of slow growth and unanswered questions this week, with risk assets likely to lose steam over coming days.

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