Fed does the Twist, markets do the Shake

September 22, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

Although it was widely expected the Federal Reserve’s decision to implement a fresh version of Operation Twist together with a downbeat assessment of the economy came as a disappointment to equities and risk assets in general. The only surprise was the larger size of the operation at $400 billion.

Moody’s downgrade of three US banks added to the malaise as US equities dropped sharply, commodities slid, longer term Treasuries rallied whilst shorter term bonds dropped. The USD registered broad gains both on the back of the fact that no more quantitative easing was announced and due to a shift away from risk assets. At least there was no more negative news out of the eurozone as talks between the Troika (ECB, IMF, EC) and Greek officials continue on the next tranche of the bailout.

Markets will continue to digest the Fed’s outcome today and the negative tone will likely filter through markets today. There is little on the data front to result in a shift in this tone. In the US data includes weekly jobless claims while in Europe attention will be on manufacturing and service sector confidence measures.

While the potential for a positive outcome to talks in Greece may provide a short term boost to sentiment the overwhelming tone is likely to remain negative especially as Operation Twist is unlikely to change the dynamic of a weak growth trajectory for the US and developed economies over the coming months. Against this background, selling risk assets on rallies remains the preferred option.

The USD will continue to look firmest against high beta emerging market currencies in the current environment. Currencies in this group are those that have the highest correlations with risk (as m measured by my in house risk barometer) over the past 3 months including CAD, ZAR, TRY, INR, MXN, ARS & RUB. In contrast currencies that also have high correlations but actually strengthen as risk aversion increases are CNY and JPY.

Posted in Asia, Asian currencies, central banks, Commodities, Currencies, ECB, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, equity markets, Europe, eurozone, Federal Reserve, Financial crisis, FX, Greece, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, US. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Asian currencies – What’s correlated with what?

May 17, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

Asian currencies as reflected in the performance of the ADXY index have been on bit of a rollercoaster ride over recent weeks, dropping sharply in the face of a resurgent USD (note most Asian currencies have had a high correlation with the movements in the USD index over the past three-months) only to strengthen briefly before resuming weakness. Since the end of last month almost all Asian currencies are weaker, with the biggest falls led by MYR, KRW, SGD and INR.

Correlation analysis shows that Asian currencies are not particularly being influenced by yield differentials at present, with only USD/IDR and USD/PHP possessing a significant correlation with 2-year bond differentials. In the case of the IDR there has been a narrowing in the yield differential with the US over recent weeks as Indonesian yields have dropped, a factor that could be undermining the IDR at present.

Similarly risk aversion does not appear to be playing a major role in influencing Asian currencies, with a low correlation registered between my Risk Aversion Barometer and all Asian currencies over the past three-months. However, equity performance is more important for some currencies, with the SGD, THB, PHP, IDR and TWD all having a high sensitivity to the performance of their local equity market. Interestingly the INR is less sensitive to equity performance even though India has recorded heavy outflows of equity capital over recent weeks.

Asian currencies are likely to continue to track the gyrations of the USD in general over the short-term as has been the case over recent weeks but it will not be a one way bet for the USD. Whilst I remain bullish on the USD’s prospects over the medium term I am cautious about the ability of the USD to sustain its currency bounce given that there has not been any back up in US bond yields or any clarification on what the Fed will do after QE2 has been completed.

Against this background I do not expect Asian currency weakness to extend much further. Top picks for the year are KRW and PHP as well as the CNY. In any case given the strong influence of general USD direction on Asian currencies, I suggest playing long Asian FX positions versus EUR over coming months, especially given that the EUR is likely to slide much further against the USD by year end, with 1.30 remaining my target.

Posted in Asia, Currencies, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, FX, India, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, Singapore, South Korea. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Financial Times Guest post: Rupee can serve as a reserve currency too

April 14, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

Please see below an excerpt from the Financial Times beyondbrics section in which I wrote a guest post about the Indian rupee.

Amidst the euphoria surrounding the internationalisation of China’s currency, the renminbi, attention on the Indian rupee appears to have fallen into the shadows. Admittedly China has been announcing new measures on the path to internationalisation almost on a weekly basis whilst India appears to have taken a more gradual approach, but it’s not too late for India to regain some of the limelight.

Perhaps it is surprising that the rupee is hardly talked about when discussing reserve currencies. The last BIS Triennial Survey of FX market activity revealed that the rupee accounted for 0.9 per cent (the same as the Russian rouble) of daily foreign exchange market turnover, which may seem small compared to the 84.9 per cent of turnover accounted for by the USD or 39.1 per cent by the EUR but is still ahead of many other developing currencies including China, which accounts for only 0.3 per cent of turnover. Moreover, India’s share of turnover has risen steadily from 0.1 per cent in 1998.

Read the rest at http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/04/14/guest-post-rupee-can-serve-as-a-reserve-currency-too/

Posted in Asia, China, Currencies, Economics, emerging markets, FX, India. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

China Hikes Rates, More On the Cards

February 9, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

In an otherwise unexciting day China livened things up by raising its 1 year deposit and lending rates by 25 basis points. The hike, the third in the last four months, should not have come as a surprise, given the growing emphasis by China’s central bank PBoC, to dampen inflation pressures. Indeed, more hikes are on the cards, with at least another two more in prospect over H1. The other tool to combat inflation is CNY appreciation further gains in the currency over coming months should be expected to around 6.3 by year-end versus USD.

Global markets largely shrugged of China’s move, with generally positive market sentiment continuing. Even in the eurozone, where there was some disappointment at the surprise drop in German December industrial production, market sentiment continued to improve as Egypt and local debt worries eased further. EUR was particularly resilient despite calls from a Belgian think tank that Greece needs to restructure its debt to avoid a long and painful path ahead. Commodity currencies also showed impressive resilience to China’s rate hike, with both the AUD and NZD holding up well.

The overall positive risk background is supportive for Asian currencies and other risk trades. Currencies in Asia remain highly correlated with portfolio capital inflows and so far this year the weakness in the INR and THB has matched the strong equity outflows from India and Thailand. However, this appears to be reversing, especially in the case of India registering positive equity flows this month, helping the INR to reverse some of its losses.

In the absence of key data releases markets will turn their attention to the testimony by Fed Chairman Bernanke to the House budget committee where he will give comments on the economy, jobs and the budget. Dallas Fed’s Fisher stated overnight that whilst he expects the Fed to complete QE2 he would not support another round of quantitative easing. Fisher’s comments on QE were similar to Atlanta Fed’s Lockhart who notes there is a “high bar” for more QE. Bernanke is unlikely to deviate from this tone in his speech today whilst also maintaining his view that there should be a long term commitment to fiscal retrenchment.

Against the background of improving risk appetite the USD is likely to stay under mild pressure although it is difficult to see a break of recent ranges for most currency pairs. EUR/USD ought to find strong support around its 100-day moving average 1.3535 whilst USD/JPY will be supported around 81.10. Equity sentiment is being supported by US data which remains encouraging. On cue the NFIB Small Business Optimism index duly rose in January to 94.1 as sentiment in this sector continued its improving trend.

Taken together with firmer equities, encouraging data is taking its toll on US bond markets, resulting in a back up in yields. Bond market sentiment wasn’t helped by a relatively poor 3-year auction. For example, US 2-year bond yields have backed up by over 30bps since 28 January. Bad news for bond is good news for the USD however, as higher relative US bond yields will likely help prevent a deeper USD sell-off, with EUR/USD in particular most reactive to relative eurozone / US bond yield differentials.

Econometer.org has been nominated in FXstreet.com’s Forex Best Awards 2011 in the “Best Fundamental Analysis” category. The survey is available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/fx_awards_2011

Posted in Asia, Australia, central banks, China, Commodities, Currencies, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, equity markets, Europe, eurozone, Federal Reserve, Fiscal/Budget, FX, Greece, India, Interest rates, Japan, Monetary Policy, South Korea, US, US administration. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Asian Currency Differentiation

January 25, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

Asian currencies have started the year in mixed form, but it would be wrong to generalize the performance of Asian currencies as weak. There have been marginal gains recorded year to date vs. USD in the KRW, TWD, MYR and SGD, reflecting strong capital equity inflows. This contrasts with losses in the IDR, INR, PHP and THB versus USD. Compared to the beginning of 2010 equity capital flows have been far weaker overall, with India, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, recording outflows, matching the performance of their currencies.

Clearly investors are discriminating more at the turn of 2011. For example Taiwan has recorded solid equity inflows over recent weeks (over $2 billion year-to-date), matching the strength of inflows registered at the beginning of 2010. It appears that Taiwan stocks have started the year as the Asian favorite, helped by growing expectations of further door opening to mainland investment and tourism. Korean equities have also registered inflows helping to support the KRW, which looks to be good buy over the short term above 1120.

This contrast with outflows registered in other Asian equity markets. A major concern responsible for some of the weakness in capital flows to Asia is the threat of inflation. For example, the selling of stocks in India appears to be closely related to inflation concerns and the hawkish rhetoric of the Reserve Bank of India, which is continuing its tightening path this year. Similarly, the PHP may be vulnerable over the short term following a failed T-bill auction on Monday. Inflation worries have clearly led to a push for higher yields but the bids were labeled as “unreasonable” by the government.

Over coming weeks, further EUR strength will likely give Asian currencies more support as the USD succumbs to further pressure. Continued strengthening in the CNY will also support other Asian currencies given that the CNY fixing has reached its highest level since the July 2005 revaluation.

Posted in Asia, central banks, China, Currencies, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, equity markets, India, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, Singapore, South Korea. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »
« Older posts
Newer posts »