Opening Up

May 10, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

Attention is squarely going to be on efforts to open up economies in the days and weeks ahead.  Most US states are opening up to varied degrees while the same is happening across Europe.  The risk of course is that a second or even third wave of Covid-19 emerges for some countries, as is being seen in some parts of Asia, for example Korea where renewed social distancing measures have been put in place after a fresh cluster of cases in clubs and bars there.

However, governments will need to weigh up these risks against the growing economic costs of lockdown, which will by no means be easy.  Even as social distancing and lockdown measures are eased, it will likely be a gradual process, with activity likely to remain under pressure.  This is when the real test for markets will take place.  While markets have clearly been buoyed by unprecedented stimulus measures, especially from the Federal Reserve, which could continue for some time, fiscal injections will run their course over the next couple of months.

As revealed in April US jobs data at the end of last week the costs in terms of increased unemployment has been severe. The US unemployment rate hit a post war high of 14.7% while 20.5 million people lost their jobs.  This news will be echoed globally. Markets were expecting bad news and therefore the reaction was limited, but the data will nonetheless put more pressure on policy makers to keep the stimulus taps open.  Discussions are already in place between US Republican and Democrats over a new package, though disagreements on various issues suggest a deal may not happen soon.

Another spanner in the works is tensions between the US and China.  The US administration has become more vocal on blaming China for the virus, over recent weeks.  This had threatened to undermine the “phase 1” trade deal agreed a few months ago.  However, there were some soothing remarks on this front, with a phone call between senior US and Chinese officials last week, highlighting “good progress” on implementing the deal.  Despite such progress, it may not calm tensions over the cause of the virus, especially ahead of US elections in November and markets are likely to remain nervous in the weeks ahead.

This week there will be more evidence on tap to reveal the economic onslaught of the virus, just as many countries are finally flattening the virus curve itself.   Q1 GDP releases will reveal weakness in several countries.  Chinese activity data including retail sales and industrial production as well as credit metrics will give further evidence of the virus impact and how quickly China is recovering.  If anything, China’s recovery path will likely show the pain ahead for many economies that are easing lockdown measures.  In the US, inflation data and retail sales will garner attention.  In terms of central banks attention will be on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ). While no change in policy rates is likely a step up in the RBNZ’s asset purchases may take place.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Asia, central banks, China, coronavirus, COVID-19, Currencies, Economics, Economy, equity markets, Federal Reserve, FX, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, South Korea, Trump, US, US administration. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Covid-19 Economic Toll Worsening

May 3, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

Unease about the economic toll of Covid-19 is starting to dent the rebound in equity markets.  The disconnect between the strength of the rally in equities and the reality on the ground has become increasingly visible following recent earnings releases including from tech heavyweights Apple and Amazon, and dismal economic data which included sharp falls in US and Eurozone Q1 GDP data.  Q2 will look even worse as most of the economic damage was inflicted in April, suggesting that the pain is just beginning.

Meanwhile geopolitical tensions between the US and China are adding another layer of pressure on markets, with US President Trump stating that he had seen strong evidence that Covid-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan.  Trump’s comments have raised the spectre of a renewed trade war between the two countries at a time when in any case it was looking increasingly difficult for China to live up to its end of the agreement to purchase a substantial amount of US goods in the wake of a Phase 1 deal.

Some of the economic pain emanating from the shutdowns will be on show this week, with the US April jobs report likely to reveal a sharp rise in the jobless rate and massive decline in non-farm payrolls, with markets looking for an increase to around 16% and a drop of 22 million, respectively.  Already jobless claims have risen to over 30 million, with the only silver lining being that the rate of increase in claims has declined over recent weeks.  The extremely sharp deterioration in job market conditions threatens to weigh heavily on recovery.

The US dollar fell towards the end of March due in part to month end rebalancing (given US equity and bond market outperformance over the month), but also due to a general improvement in risk sentiment, reducing any safe have demand for dollars.  If as is likely markets become increasingly nervous about the sustainability of the rally in risk assets, the USD is likely to move higher during the next few weeks. Even in an environment where global equities sell off, US assets are still better placed in terms of return potential than those elsewhere, implying US dollar outperformance.

In terms of data and events focus this will turn to the Bank of England and Reserve Bank of Australia policy meetings.  Neither are likely to cut interest rates further, but the BoE could announced a further increase in asset purchases, while conversely the RBA is likely to maintain its asset purchases tapering path.  Aside from the US jobs data noted above, the other piece of data globally that will be watched carefully is China’s April trade report.  A weak outcome is likely for sure, but the extent of deterioration in exports and imports, will have very negative global consequences.

Posted in Australia, Bank of England, central banks, China, coronavirus, COVID-19, Currencies, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, equity markets, Europe, eurozone, Federal Reserve, FX, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, Trade, Trump, UK, US, US administration. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

US-China Phase 1, Now What?

January 16, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

Now that the long awaited Phase 1 deal has been signed between the US and China (significantly taking place in the White House) and details finally released (in a 94 page document) it’s worth asking whether much has actually changed.  After all, China still faces (high) tariffs on around two-thirds of its exports to the US while the deal does little to end Chinese state subsidies.  In return the US offers little aside from removing tariff increases.  Intellectual property transfer commitments agreed in the deal are mostly not new as China had already addressed most of these. 

Ironically the magnitude of Chinese purchases, ($77.7bn in manufactured goods, $32bn in agricultural goods, $52.4bn in energy and $37.9bn in services to Dec 2021) means that the Chinese State will have to be even more active in influencing its economy.  The reality is that to achieve this is going to be extremely difficult if not highly unlikely though this may ultimately not matter if China is seen to significantly increase its US purchases.

Looking ahead don’t expect China to be as agreeable on a Phase 2 deal; any such deal would touch on far more sensitive issues.  The likelihood of this being agreed and signed ahead of US elections or maybe at all, is low.  However, in the near term, the deal keeps the risk taps open and avoids any near-term escalation while President Trump walks away with another notch on his belt.  What it doesn’t do is stop any of the US non-tariff barriers, export controls etc, that will still hurt Chinese companies and push China to develop its own technology. Chinese growth will not get much of an uplift from the deal while markets have already largely priced it in.

The commitment from China on the Chinese yuan (CNY) looks vague (achieve market determined FX rate, strengthen underlying fundamentals, refrain from competitive devaluations, avoid large scale, persistent, one-sided intervention), but China will at least avoid any sharp devaluations (of the type experienced in mid-2015, Jan 16), not that they would want to do that again given the negative consequences on its markets/economy.  And as it is China has not been intervening significantly in FX markets for a long while so this should not be difficult either.

Posted in China, Currencies, Economics, Economy, equity markets, Trade, Trump, US, US administration. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment »

UK Elections and US-China trade: Removing Risk Factors

December 16, 2019 — Mitul Kotecha

Following the euphoria over the decisive UK election result and the US/China “Phase 1” trade deal markets look primed to end the year on a positive footing.  Two of the major risk factors threatening to detail market sentiment into year end have at least been lifted.  However, some reality may begin to set in early into 2020, with investors recognizing that there are still major issues to be resolved both between the UK and Europe and between the US and China,

Although full details have yet to be revealed, Chinese officials will likely be relieved that the hike in tariffs scheduled for December 15 will now not go ahead. However, there are still questions on how China will ramp up its purchases of US agricultural goods anywhere near the $40-50bn mark that has been touted.

Also the dollar amount of the roll back in US tariffs is relatively small at around $9bn, which hardly moves the needle in terms of helping China’s growth prospects.  “The United States will be maintaining 25 percent tariffs on approximately $250 billion of Chinese imports, along with 7.5 percent tariffs on approximately $120 billion of Chinese imports.”  This still means that a substantial amount of tariffs on Chinese goods remains in place.

According to Trade Rep. Lighthizer, the deal will take effect 30 days after its signing, likely in early January. To sustain any improvement in sentiment around trade prospects there will need to be some concrete progress in removing previous tariffs as well as progress on structural issues (state subsides, technology transfers etc) in any Phase 2 or 3 dealss. The bottom line is that agreement in principle on “Phase 1” will need to be followed by further action soon, otherwise market sentiment will sour.

In the UK Prime Minister Johnson now has the votes to move forward with Brexit on January 31 but that will leave only 11 months to negotiate a deal with the EU. The transition period finishes at the end of 2020 unless of course there is an extension, something that Johnson has ruled out.  In the meantime the immediate focus will turn to the next Bank of England governor replacing Mark Carney.  This decision could take place this week.  Markets will also look to what fiscal steps the government will take in the weeks ahead.

GBP has rallied strongly over recent days and weeks, extending gains in the wake of the Conservative Party election win.  However, further gains will be harder to achieve given the challenges ahead.  UK equities have underperformed this year and are arguably relatively cheap from a valuation perspective, but further gains will also involve removing or at least reducing much of the uncertainty that has kept UK businesses from investing over recent months.  In the near term GBPUSD could struggle to break above 1.35 unless there is progress on the issues noted above.

Posted in Asia, Bank of England, Brexit, central banks, China, Currencies, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, equity markets, Europe, Fiscal/Budget, FX, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, Trade, Trump, UK, US. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Fed, ECB, UK elections In Focus

December 9, 2019 — Mitul Kotecha

An event filled week lies ahead.  Several central bank decisions including the Federal Reserve FOMC (11th Dec), European Central Bank (ECB) (12 Dec) and Swiss National Bank (SNB)  (12 Dec) are on the calendar.  All of these major central banks are likely to leave policy unchanged and the meetings should prove to be uneventful.  Fed Chair Powell is likely to reiterate the Fed’s patient stance, with last Friday’s strong US November job report (payrolls rose 266k) effectively sealing the case for no change in policy at this meeting, even as a Phase 1 trade deal remains elusive.

Similarly recently firmer data in Europe have pushed back expectations of further ECB easing, though President Lagarde is likely to sound cautious highlighting her desire to maintain an accommodative monetary policy stance.  The picture is rather different for emerging market central banks this week, with policy easing likely from Turkey (12 Dec), Russia (13 Dec) and Brazil (12 Dec) while Philippines (12 Dec) is likely to keep policy unchanged.

UK general elections on Thursday will be closely watched, with GBP already having rallied above 1.30 vs USD as polls show a strong lead for Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party.  The main question is whether Johnson will have gained enough of a share of the vote to gain a majority, allowing him to push ahead with his Brexit plans, with Parliament voting to leave the European Union by Jan 31.

Polls may not be as accurate as assumed in the past given surprises over recent years including the Brexit vote itself, but the wide margin between the two parties highlights the relatively stronger position of the Conservatives going into the election.  Nonetheless, given that a lot is in the price already, the bigger (negative) reaction in GBP could come from a hung parliament or Labour win.

This week is also crunch time for a decision on the threatened December 15 tariffs on China.  As previously noted there is little sign of any deal on any Phase 1 trade deal.  It appears that issues such as the amount of purchases of US goods by China remain unresolved.  Recent comments by President Trump suggest that he is prepared to delay a deal even as far as past the US elections in November 2020.

Whether this is tactic to force China to agree on a deal or a real desire not to rush a deal is difficult to determine, but it seems as though Phase 1 will deal will not be signed this year given the limited time to do so.  December 15 tariffs could be delayed but this is also not guaranteed.  President Trump’s attention will also partly be on the potential for an impeachement vote in the House this week.

Posted in Brexit, central banks, ECB, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, Europe, eurozone, Federal Reserve, FX, Monetary Policy, Politics, Trade, Trump, UK, US, US administration. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »
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