So much in the price

September 10, 2012 — Mitul Kotecha

The weaker than expected US August non farm payrolls data at the end of last week punished the USD and reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will announce a fresh round of quantitative easing at this week’s FOMC policy meeting. The shift in expectations for QE has been rapid over recent weeks and the jobs data acted as the icing on the cake. In part USD weakness reflects both QE expectations and the positive reaction to the European Central Bank’s bond buying plan announced last week. In this respect a lot is already priced in to currency markets and EUR/USD will struggle to sustain a move above 1.28 in the short term.

From a risk / reward perspective there are potentially plenty of stumbling blocks this week aside from the FOMC meeting that could skew market direction towards risk rather than reward. These include the German constitutional court decision on the ESM permanent bailout fund and Dutch elections both of which take place on Wednesday. The German court decision is the last needed before the ESM comes into force. Legal experts expect the court to approve the ESM but with tough conditionality. Should the ESM not be approved it would leave any more bailout funds to come only from the cash left in the temporary and dwindling EFSF. Separately the Dutch elections look set to end in weeks if not months of coalition building. These events occur gainst the backdrop of talks between the Greek government and its creditors following failure to agree on spending cuts between Greece’s coalition partners.

Ahead of these events the European Commission will reveal details of plans towards a single banking supervision mechanism. The G20 meeting in Mexico and Ecofin meeting at the end of the week will also garner attention, with any discussion on a European banking union of interest. Meanwhile, following the ECB’s announcement last week the ball is in the court of Spain and Italy to formally request An EU bailout and in turn accept various conditions and targets necessary to receive a bailout. Only then will the ECB commence its ‘unlimited’ bond buying. No date or deadline has been set for such requests for a bailout but given the sharp drop in peripheral Eurozone bond yields over recent weeks in anticipation of ECB bond purchases there is certainly scope for disappointment, with market patience likely to run thin.

Posted in ECB, Federal Reserve, Germany, Greece, Spain. Tags: , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Market fear rising

August 28, 2012 — Mitul Kotecha

In what was fairly subdued trading conditions in the wake of a UK holiday the most interesting market move was the jump in the VIX ‘fear gauge’ which has been on a steady increase since 17 August. The rise in equity volatility suggests that the relative calm experienced over the summer may be ending.

Major events over coming days and weeks including the Jackson Hole Fed symposium on Friday, IMF/EU review of Portugal today, ECB meeting on September 6, Dutch general election on 12 September, German constitutional court decision on the ESM permanent bailout fund on the same day, as well as the Fed FOMC meeting on September 12-13, highlight the potential for more volatility and uncertainty.

Yesterday’s fourth consecutive drop in the German IFO index was all but ignored as attention turns to Jackson Hole. Nonetheless, the announcement of the formation of a working group between France and Germany suggests some improvement in coordination towards finding a solution to the Eurozone crisis, while the ECB’s Asmussen further heightened speculation that the upcoming ECB meeting would detail the ECB’s proposed bond buying program.

Meanwhile, although the Fed’s Evans (non voter) highlighted his preference for more Fed quantitative easing an improvement in consumer confidence in August expected to be revealed today, will add to data playing against imminent QE.

All of the above leaves FX markets in limbo. The USD remains restrained by expectations of Fed QE but relatively better economic data compared to the Eurozone, suggests that any USD decline will be limited. Moreover, the fact that aggregate speculative USD positioning turned negative for the first time since September 2011, suggests that there is now some scope for short covering.

Conversely, hopes of ECB bond buying offer the EUR some solace but as noted, the many events over coming weeks in Europe, highlight the risks to the currency and we suspect that EUR/USD has topped out around 1.2500.

Posted in ECB, Federal Reserve, Germany, US. Tags: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Fed passes the baton to the ECB. EUR and GBP downside risks

August 2, 2012 — Mitul Kotecha

Although the Fed’s inaction overnight was perhaps a little disappointing for markets the FOMC did note that it “will” provide further stimulus to the economy if needed. The USD rallied but risk currencies came under pressure. However, any sell off in risk assets will be limited as markets look to the FOMC meeting on September 13 for more action. This will also coincide with updates of the Fed’s economic forecasts. The below consensus reading for the ISM manufacturing index in July which came in at 49.8 added to the slight disappointment, with the data consistent with flat growth in manufacturing.

Attention now turns to the European Central Bank (ECB). Warnings by the Bundesbank President Weidmann for the ECB not to overstep its remit sets the scene for a stressful policy meeting today. Although markets have pared back their overly bullish expectations from the end of last week a lack of action by the ECB to reduce peripheral bond yields will disappoint and lead to a sell of in risk assets and EUR/USD but support around 1.2150 is likely to hold. Even a restart of Securities Market Purchases on its own would not be a game changer.

The Bank of England also decides on policy today but unlike the ECB there is little expectation of any action from the MPC. Inaction by the BoE today will highlight that after a GBP 375 billion in asset purchases there is limited room in the tool kit aside from lowering interest rates further. A weaker than expected reading for UK July manufacturing confidence weighed on GBP, with the data following a rash of disappointing data releases over recent weeks. I continue to see downside risks to GBP both against the EUR and USD, however. Indeed, my quantitative models reveal that GBP/USD should be trading around 1.5144 while EUR/GBP should be around 0.8242.

Posted in ECB, eurozone, UK, US. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »

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.

Posted in Asian currencies, ECB, eurozone, Federal Reserve, US. Tags: , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

USD boosted by bond yields, AUD vulnerable

March 14, 2012 — Mitul Kotecha

The USD rallied further overnight helped by a Fed FOMC statement that was less downbeat than in January, with no hint of any further quantitative easing. In combination with a solid February retail sales report and upward revisions to December and January, US bond yields pushed higher. US 2-year Treasury yields hit their highest since the beginning of August 2011, which given the strong correlation with the USD, provided further support to the currency.

The highest FX sensitivity to yield differentials is found in JPY, AUD, SEK, and CAD over the past 3-months. However, among these US yields have only widened against Japan over recent days meaning this currency is the most vulnerable. For the other currencies their yields have actually been widening against the USD. Over the near term, the USD is set to remain well supported, especially as data releases over the rest of the week will maintain the tone of strengthening economic activity.

AUD looks increasingly vulnerable to further short term slippage. At least partly explaining the recent drop in AUD/USD is a narrowing in Australia’s yield advantage over the US. A spate of weaker data over recent weeks has helped to undermine the currency including Q4 GDP data which revealed a far slower pace of growth than had been expected. Weak jobs data reinforced the view that the economy is spluttering.

The net result is that Australian interest rate futures have rallied and implied yields have dropped in contrast to the US where futures have sold off in the wake of strengthening economic data. The casualty of all of this is the AUD and it appears that further downside risks are in store for the currency. Indeed my quantitative models show that the AUD continues to trade well above its short term ‘fair value’. For those wanting to take medium term long positions in the AUD I would suggest rebuilding longs around 1.03-1.04 versus USD.

Posted in Australia, FX, US. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »
« Older posts
Newer posts »