FX Winners and Losers

February 16, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

There has been a sense of mean reversion in FX markets so far this year as some of last year’s winners have become losers. Namely NZD, CHF, JPY and AUD have all lost ground whilst EUR and GBP have gained ground. The odd one out is the SEK which has strengthened over 2010 and in 2011 versus USD. I expect this pattern to change and the likely winners over the next 3- months are NZD, AUD and CAD, with CHF and JPY the likely losers.

EUR held up reasonably well in the wake of slightly disappointing growth data, with eurozone GDP rising less than expected in Q4, and a smaller than expected gain in the February German ZEW investor confidence survey (economic sentiment component). My sense is that the net long EUR speculative position has already been pared back somewhat over recent days reducing the potential selling pressure on the currency in the near term.

Given that EUR/USD is one of the only major currency pairs being influenced by interest rate differentials, its direction will hinge more on policy expectations but in the near the announcement by the German Finance Minister this morning of a restructuring plan for WestLB may give the currency some support.

Perhaps one explanation for the stability of EUR/USD around the 1.3500 level is that US data was also disappointing yesterday. January retail sales rose less than forecast whilst revisions to back months suggest less momentum in Q4 consumer spending than previously envisaged. As with the eurozone data weather likely played a role in contributing to the outcome.

The net impact on currencies is that they are largely stuck within tight ranges. Further direction will come from the release of the Fed FOMC minutes for the January 26th meeting. The minutes may undermine the USD if a likely dovish slant continues to be expressed but given that the FOMC decision at that meeting to hold policy setting unchanged had no dissenters this should not come as a surprise.

Whilst the battle between the USD and EUR ended in a stalemate GBP outperformed in the wake of the increase in UK January CPI inflation and in particular the letter from the BoE governor to the Chancellor keeping open the door to a rate hike. The Quarterly Inflation Report (QIR) today will be particularly important to determine whether the bounce in GBP is justified.

I remain hesitant to build on long GBP positions given the net long speculative overhang in the currency. The risks following yesterday’s jump in GBP are asymmetric, with a hawkish QIR likely to have less impact on the currency than the negative impact from a more dovish than expected report.

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

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US Dollar Upside, Euro tensions

February 14, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

Following the famine that was last week this week will see a feast of data releases, which hopefully will give some clearer direction to currency markets. The key eurozone data focus for FX markets will be the German February ZEW survey and it should highlight that investor confidence is bouncing back smartly. This will be accompanied by data showing a slight acceleration in GDP in the eurozone in Q4 2010. Good news, but the reality is that the EUR is being driven more by peripheral bond tensions and relative yields.

Although the EUR may get a brief lift from the news of the resignation of Egypt’s President Mubarak this will likely prove temporary. Given that tensions are beginning to creep higher EUR/USD may struggle to make any headway this week and will more likely slip below 1.3500 for a test of 1.3440 as sentiment sours. Even the usual sovereign interest may look a little more reluctant to provide support this week. The net long positioning overhang as reflected in the CFTC IMM data suggests some scope for a squaring in long positions, likely accelerating any downside pressure.

As usual data releases are failing to have a major impact on the JPY whilst interest rate / yield differentials suggest the JPY should be much weaker. One explanation for the stubbornly strong JPY is the strength of recent portfolio inflows to Japan, especially into its bond markets. This could reverse quickly and IMM positioning suggests that the potential for a shakeout of long positioning looms large, something that many Japanese margin traders are well positioned for according to TFX data. USD/JPY 84.51 will provide firm resistance to a move higher in the short-term.

GBP will be guided by the Bank of England Quarterly Inflation Report on Wednesday as well as the January CPI and retail sales data. The Report will reveal that inflation moderates over the medium term, even if short-term projections are shifted higher. Consequently, interest rate markets may even pare back overly hawkish expectations for UK rates, leaving GBP vulnerable. Nonetheless, markets maybe somewhat more sceptical or at least nervous in light of a likely increase in UK CPI, albeit mostly due to the increase in value added tax (VAT) at the turn of the year. Moreover, GBP may find some solace from a rebound in retail sales in January.

Overall, GBP/USD will take its cue from EUR/USD and the currency is vulnerable to a sustained drop below 1.6000 this week. The fact that GBP/USD IMM positioning is at its highest since September 2008 suggests a lot of scope for a sell-off. EUR/GBP looks like its consolidating in an even narrower range between 0.8400-0.8500.

Another positive slate of US data releases and likely more pressure on US bond markets this week suggest that the USD will find further support, with the USD index likely to take a shot at the 79.00 level. Indeed a further improvement in both the Philly Fed and Empire manufacturing surveys is expected, providing more evidence of strengthening manufacturing momentum, will be borne out in the hard data, with a healthy gain in industrial output expected. Similarly a healthy reading for US retail sales will support the evidence that the US consumer is in full recovery mode.

The positive impact on the USD may be dampened however, by benign inflation readings this week, supporting the view that US policy rates will not be raised for a long time yet. This is likely to be echoed in the Fed FOMC minutes this week. Nonetheless, speculative positioning suggests plenty of scope for short USD covering, with the latest CFTC IMM report revealing the biggest net short position since October 2010.

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

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Global Themes

February 11, 2011 — Mitul Kotecha

It’s definitely been a strange start to the year, with markets taking plenty of time to get their bearings. Some general themes have developed but none have provided clear direction. As a result, the path over coming weeks and months is likely to remain highly volatile and in this respect, currencies, equities and bonds will continue to see strong gyrations.

One theme that has been evident since the start of the year is an improvement in sentiment towards the eurozone periphery as hopes of an enlargement/extension of the European Union bailout fund (EFSF) have increased. This is a key reason why the EUR has strengthened this year although nervousness on this front appears to have returned over recent days (note the recent widening in peripheral bond spreads, drop in EUR and European Central Bank purchases of Portuguese debt). It seems that a lot of good news has already been discounted in relation to the eurozone periphery and now markets are in wait and see mode for the EU Council meeting on 24/25 March. There is a strong chance that eventually market expectations will prove overly optimistic and the EUR will drop but more on that later.

The second theme is global inflation concerns, driven by higher food and energy prices. Certainly this has had an impact on interest rate expectations and in some cases resulted in a hawkish shift in central bank language, notably in the eurozone and UK. Although European Central Bank (ECB) President Trichet has toned down his comments on tighter monetary policy compared to the more hawkish rhetoric following the last ECB council meeting, expectations for monetary tightening in the eurozone still look overly hawkish, with a policy rate hike currently being priced in for August/September this year, which looks way too early. The EUR has benefitted from the relative tightening in eurozone interest rate expectations compare to the US but will suffer if and when such expectations are wound down.

Elsewhere in many emerging markets the impact of higher food prices is finding its way even more quickly into higher inflation, forcing central banks to tighten policy. In Asia, the urgency for higher rates is even more significant given that real interest rates (taking into account inflation) are negative in many countries. China has accelerated the pace of its rate hikes over recent months and looks set to continue to tighten policy much further to combat inflation. In India, worries about inflation and the need for further monetary tightening have clearly weighed on equity markets, with more pain to come. Although not the sole cause by any means, in the Middle East and Africa higher food prices are feeding social tensions such as in Egypt.

Another clear theme that has developed is the improvement in US economic conditions. The run of US data over recent months has been encouraging, confirming that the economy is gaining momentum. Even the disappointing January non-farm payrolls report has not dashed hopes of recovery, with many other job market indicators pointing to strengthening job conditions such as the declining trend in weekly US jobless claims. Manufacturing, business and consumer confidence measures have strengthened whilst credit conditions are easing, albeit gradually. The US economy is set to outperform many other major economies this year, especially the eurozone, which will be beset with a diverging growth outlook between northern and southern Europe.

Although the US dollar has not yet benefitted from stronger US growth given the still dovish tone of the Fed and ongoing asset purchases in the form of quantitative easing, the rise in US bond yields relative to other countries, will likely propel the dollar higher over 2011 after a rocky start over Q1 2011. In contrast, the EUR at current levels looks too strong and as noted above, hopes of a resolution of eurozone peripheral problems look overdone. EUR/USD levels above 1.3500 provide attractive levels to short the currency. Other growth currencies that will likely continue to do well are commodity currencies such as AUD, NZD and CAD, whilst the outlook for Asian currencies remains positive even despite recent large scale capital outflows. The JPY however, will be one currency that suffers from an adverse yield differential with the US as US bond yields rise relative to Japan.

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

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The Week Ahead

December 13, 2010 — Mitul Kotecha

As markets make the last strides towards year end it appears that currencies at least are becoming increasingly resigned to trading in ranges. Even the beleaguered EUR has not traded far from the 1.3200 level despite significant bond market gyrations. Even news that inflation in China came in well above expectations in November (5.1% YoY) and increased prospects of a rate hike is likely to prompt a limited reaction from a lethargic market.

At the tail end of last week US data provided further support to the growing pool of evidence indicating strengthening US economic conditions, with the trade deficit surprisingly narrowing in October, a fact that will add to Q4 GDP growth, whilst the Michigan measure of consumer confidence registered a bigger than expected increase in November to its highest level since June.

The jump in consumer confidence bodes well for retail spending and highlights the prospects that US November retail sales tomorrow are set to reveal solid gains both headline and ex-autos sales driven by sales and promotions over the holiday season. Other data too, will paint an encouraging picture, with November industrial production (Wed) set to reveal a healthy gain helped by a bounce in utility output. Manufacturing surveys will be mixed with a rebound in the Empire manufacturing survey in December likely but in contrast a drop in the Philly Fed expected.

The main event this week is the FOMC decision tomorrow the Fed is expected to deliver few surprises. The Fed funds rate is expected to remain “exceptionally low for an extended period”. Despite some recent encouraging data recovery remains slow and the fact that core inflation continues to decelerate (CPI inflation data on Wednesday is set to reveal a benign outcome with core CPI at 0.6%) whilst the unemployment rate has moved higher means that the Fed is no rush to alter policy including its commitment to buy $600 billion in Treasuries including $105 billion between now and January 11.

In Europe there are also some key releases that will garner plenty of attention including the December German ZEW and IFO investor and manufacturing confidence surveys and flash purchasing managers indices (PMI) readings. The data are set to remain reasonably healthy and may keep market attention from straying to ongoing problems in the eurozone periphery but this will prove temporary at least until the markets are convinced that European Union leaders are shifting away from “piecemeal” solutions to ending the crisis. The EU leaders’ summit at the end of the week will be important in this respect. A Spanish debt auction on Thursday will also be in focus.

Assuming the forecasts for US data prove correct it is likely that US bond markets will remain under pressure unless the Fed says something that fuels a further decline in yield such as highlighting prospects for more quantitative easing (QE). However, following the tax compromise agreement last week this seems unlikely. Higher relative US bond yields will keep the USD supported, and as I have previously noted, the most sensitive currencies will be the AUD, EUR and JPY, all of which are likely to remain under varying degrees of downward pressure in the short term. The AUD will also be particularly sensitive to prospects of further Chinese monetary tightening.

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FX sensitivity to yield

December 9, 2010 — Mitul Kotecha

It’s all about yield. The back up in US bond yields in reaction to the US tax compromise from the Obama administration has been particularly sharp. US 10 year bond yields jumped around 35bps this week prior to a small correction in yields overnight whilst 2s were up 21bps. US bond yields are now back where they were in June, a fact that makes a mockery out of the Fed’s attempts to drive bond yields lower via quantitative easing (QE). Yields elsewhere increased too but by a smaller degree whilst equity market sentiment has been dampened by the rise in global yields although US stocks still ended higher overnight.

There is plenty of commentary discussing the impact on currencies of the move in bond yields so it’s worth looking in more detail how sensitive FX markets have been to yield. The most sensitive currencies i.e. those with the highest 3-month correlations with relative bond yield differentials (2 year) are the AUD/USD, EUR/USD, and of course USD/JPY. However, there is less sensitivity to gyrations in 10 year yields with no currency pair registering a statistically significant correlation with 10-year bond yield differentials over the past 3-months.

Assuming that US bond yields continue to push higher into 2011, with much lager increases in both nominal and yields expected, this means that AUD, EUR and JPY will face the most pressure relative to the USD. Moreover, the stimulus measures agreed by the US administration will likely lead to many analysts penciling in higher growth forecasts over 2011 whilst reducing the prospects of QE3 from taking place, all of which is USD positive. I still retain a degree of caution in Q1 2011, especially with regard to a potential bounce in EUR, especially if the ECB becomes more aggressive in its bond buying, but even so, any EUR rally is likely to prove termporary.

The impact of higher US yields on the AUD may be more limited however, despite the high correlation with relative bond yields, as Australian bond yields are also likely to rise somewhat given the resilience of its economy. This was clearly demonstrated by Australian November employment data released overnight revealing yet another consensus beating outcome of +54.6k, with all the gains coming from full time employment. Against the background of a generally firm USD, the best way to play AUD resilience is via the NZD, with the currency pair likely break through resistance around 1.3220 (21 October high).

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