Risk On / Risk Off

October 16, 2009 — Mitul Kotecha

Risk was firmly back on over the past few days as the majority of earnings came in stronger than expected; around 80% of S&P 500 companies have beaten expectations so far. Data releases in the US have also continued to beat forecasts, the latest of which was the September industrial production report. The dollar stood little chance of a recovering against this background and continues to languish around 14-month lows.

Sterling has been the star performer, perhaps a reflection of the fact that the market was extremely short (CTFC IMM data revealed record net short sterling positions last week) and some hints that the Bank of England may not extend quantitative easing was sufficient to provoke a short covering rally. Still the pound’s gains may prove short-lived until there are clearer signs of economic recovery and of a turn in the interest rate cycle.

There will be some key events and data over the coming week that will give further direction to sterling including a speech by BoE Governor King, MPC minutes, retail sales and preliminary Q3 GDP data. Overall, the data are unlikely to deliver much of a boost to the pound even though both retail sales and GDP are likely to deliver positive readings. Sentiment for the pound continues to swing in a wide range and though a lot of negativity was in the price a sustained recovery is far off. The risks remain that GBP/USD will push back towards support around 1.5902.

I still believe that there is little positive to be said for the euro too. The currency benefits from a weaker dollar but is hardly supported by fundamentals especially as a stronger euro damages one of the main engines of eurozone growth, namely exports. EUR/USD will struggle to make headway through 1.50 though once through here it could easily be carried higher. The most positive factor supporting the euro is the continued recycling of central bank intervention flows here in Asia and this may be sufficient to propel EUR/USD through 1.50 before hitting a wall of resistance around 1.5084.

The dollar itself may be given a lifeline from what looks like a softer tone to markets at the end of the week but overall sentiment remains very bearish despite attempts by various US officials to talk the dollar higher this week. The Fed’s Fisher hit the nail on the head when he said that the dollar’s long term value depends on policymakers “getting it right”. In the short term however, it’s all about risk and increasingly it will be about interest rate differentials, both of which will play negatively for the dollar.

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

Chinese stocks enter bear market

August 19, 2009 — Mitul Kotecha

Markets can only be described as fickle as they gyrate back and forth depending on the latest news or earnings report and as a result direction is changing not just daily but also intra-day.  Investors in most asset classes will continue to focus on stocks especially the recently underperforming Chinese equity market (Shanghai A share index) which officially moved into bearish territory after falling by over 20% from its early August high. 

Various reasons for the drop can be cited including regulator’s curbs on the stock market, high valuations, absence of new fund launches, limits on institutional buying,  high level of new accounts adding to volatility, tighter regulations on real estate, etc, but whatever the reason the direction has been clearly downwards and the impact is being felt across markets.

The turnaround in equity markets during Wednesday’s sessions was dramatic and was led by the turnaround in Chinese stocks which dragged other Asian bourses down with it.   This outweighed any positive sentiment from Market positives so far this week including a strong reading for the German August ZEW survey which surpassed forecasts by a large margin.  This followed the extension of the TALF by the Fed, and a jump in the US Empire manufacturing survey at the beginning of the week.  

Aside from weaker equities the usual FX beneficiaries including the dollar and yen strengthened on the back of the Chinese stock rout.   S&P’s affirmation of China’s credit ratings and positive comments from China’s stats office about the economic outlook in the months ahead  failed to support sentiment.  This would have been expected to provide a positive backdrop for Asian markets but Chinese stock market jitters provided a strong headwind to local markets. 

Overall most measures of risk have seen a substantial improvement over the past few months but there is no doubt that nerves are creeping back into the market.   This time the nervousness is coming from China and worryingly it is swamping the effect of any good news on the global economy and earnings.   This may prove to be a blip on the long road to recovery in risk appetite but it is difficult to ignore such a sharp fall in Chinese stocks without looking at the potential contagion to other equity markets.  

On the FX front those currencies that are most correlated with risk aversion such as the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, South African rand, Indonesian rupiah, Brazilian real and Mexican peso will gyrate in relation to the moves in risk appetite.   These currencies have had the highest correlations with risk aversion over the past month and in the current environment will come under some pressure at least until risk sentiment changes again, which in this market could happen at any moment and without warning.

Posted in Asia, Bond markets, central banks, China, Currencies, Economics, Economy, equity markets, India, US. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »

Risk appetite dented

August 17, 2009 — Mitul Kotecha

The surprise decline in the Michigan reading of US consumer confidence which dropped to 63.2 in August put a dampener on risk appetite at the end of last week helping to fuel a sea of red for most US and European equity markets at the close of play on Friday.   Nonetheless, FX markets remained range-bound, albeit with the dollar taking a firmer bias at the end of the week.

The impact of the drop in confidence is likely to prove short lived as risk appetite continues to improve this week although don’t look for big market moves as summer trading conditions continue to dominate.  For the most part the data releases should not throw any spanners in the works over coming days as a positive tone to data is set to be retained.  

The highlights this week include more GDP data from Japan and Norway following surprise increases in growth from Germany and France in Q2 last week.  Japan’s release showed a marginally softer than expected 0.9% QoQ increase in GDP with growth led by external demand and government stimulus measures.  In contrast, capital spending continued to remain weak.  

US numbers are set to show further improvement as likely reflected in manufacturing surveys including the August Empire survey and the Philly Fed.  Similarly housing data including housing starts and existing homes sales will point to more stabilisation whilst Fed Chairman Bernanke is set to deliver a similar tone to the recent FOMC statement. 

The highlight of the European calendar is the German ZEW survey and flash August PMIs.  Firmer equities point to a higher ZEW whilst manufacturing indices are likely to reveal a slower pace of contraction.  In the UK the minutes of the BoE MPC meeting are likely to reveal a unanimous vote for extending QE policy. 

On balance, the beginning of the week is likely to see a bit of a risk aversion led sell off in risk currencies including commodity currencies such as the Australian and NZ dollars as well as weaker Asian currencies led by the likes of the Korean won but the pressure is unlikely to last for long.  Nonetheless, Commodity currencies will face another layer of pressure from the sharp drop in commodity prices at the end of last week as reflected in the drop in the CRB index.

Posted in central banks, Commodities, Currencies, Economics, Economy, equity markets, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, US. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Recovery hopes spoiled by the consumer

July 31, 2009 — Mitul Kotecha

News that US Q2 GDP dropped by less than expected, with the 1% fall in GDP over the quarter far smaller than the annualised 6.4% drop in the previous quarter, adds to the plethora of evidence highlighting that the US recession is coming closer to ending.  The bad news, albeit backward looking was revealed in the downward revisions to growth in the previous quarters, which indicated that the recession has been more severe than previously thought.  

Within the Q2 GDP data the details revealed that consumer spending weakened by far more than expected. The recession is also breaking all sorts of records as the annual 3.9% decline in growth was the biggest since WWII and the fourth quarterly decline in a row was the longest on record. Nonetheless, inventories look a lot leaner following their sharp drop over the quarter and the deterioration in business investment appears to be slowing.  The data also showed that the Fed´s preferred gauge of inflation (core PCE deflator) remained relatively well behaved.

The downward revisions to past data and the fact that growth was boosted in Q2 by government spending as well as very weak consumer spending will takes some of the shine off the less than forecast drop in GDP.  Nonetheless, the data is still backward looking.  The evidence of recovery highlighted in recent housing data as well as some bottoming out in manufacturing conditions, taken together with less severe readings in jobs data  are difficult to ignore.  This was echoed in the Fed´s Beige Book which revealed that economic deterioration was becoming less marked.

The most worrying aspect of the report and something that cannot be downplayed however, is consumer spending. Massive wealth loss, rising unemployment, tight credit conditions, reduced income and consumer deleveraging all point to a very subdued outlook for the US consumer in the months ahead and only a gradual pace of economic recovery. The US savings rate is set to move higher even from its current 15 year high and spending on big ticket items will remain fragile at best.   Although the upcoming US jobs report will likely show a less severe pace of Job losses in July, the drop in payrolls will still remain significant and hardly  conducive of a turnaround in spending. 

Although some policy makers have indicated that policy should not be kept too loose for too long the weak consumer outlook suggests that inflation is likely to remain subdued for a long time to come.  So whilst it is easy to get excited about the signs of recovery increasingly being revealed in economic data this should not be taken as a cue to reverse policy. The recovery process remains a “long, hard, slog” and the massive excess capacity in the global economy, especially  in developed countries suggests that interest rates will remain at ultra low levels for many months.

Some clues to central bank thinking will be seen over coming days as interest rate decisions in Australia, UK, and Eurozone move into focus. Although none of the Banks are expected to tighten policy it will be interesting to see whether the rhetoric becomes more hawkish. The RBA in particular will likely indicate that the room for further rate cuts has diminished. In Europe, following the very soft inflation data in July the ECB will be comfortable in its current policy settings.  In the UK attention will focus on the BoE´s asset purchase programme and the possibility of increasing purchases from the current GBP 125 billion, especially after the MPC surprisingly did not increase purchases at its last meeting.

Posted in central banks, Economics, Economy, Europe, Financial crisis, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, UK, US. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »
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