USD softens on Bernanke, GBP firm, AUD oversold

July 18, 2013 — Mitul Kotecha

Fed Chairman Bernanke did not deliver anything particular new in his testimony yesterday but still managed to provide further reassurance to markets. The Fed chief noted that asset purchases are not on a preset course while highlighting that ‘tapering’ will only occur if economic data warrants it. His concerns about high unemployment and very low inflation emphasized the Fed’s commitment to easy policy settings.

Assisted by a weaker than expected housing starts report bonds liked what they heard, with 10 year Treasury yields dropping below 2.5% while equities rallied and the USD softened. Gold struggled however, failing again to break above USD 1300 and settling back into its USD 1270-1300 range.

Overall, Bernanke’s comments remain consistent with tapering beginning later this year, most likely in September. He will repeat the testimony to the Senate Banking Committee today but markets will look for further clues in the Q&A session.

The positive tone will likely creep into Asian trading today in the absence of other key market drivers, with the USD likely to be restrained against both major and Asian currencies although Asian currencies may struggle given the IMF’s more cautious comments on Chinese growth in which they highlighted the growing downside risks to their growth forecast.

GBP/USD has registered a solid recovery since its recent low just above 1.48. Helped by a hawkish surprise in the Bank of England MPC minutes in which the vote was 9-0 to maintain current monetary settings as new governor Carney managed to unite the MPC view, GBP looks well supported in the days ahead.

What’s surprising is the lack of GBP progress against the EUR especially given the relative outperformance of UK economic data recently and prospects of strengthening momentum into H2 13. Given the potential for alternative monetary policy instruments in the months ahead some caution on GBP may be warranted.

Nonetheless, as GBP is positioned short versus both EUR and USD, its downside looks limited and if anything it will register gains versus EUR. Today’s retail sales may be a risk, but any set back to GBP is likely to prove temporary.

A lot of bad news is already priced into the AUD and sentiment has become overly bearish even if Australia’s government and central bank would prefer to see further currency weakness. There is a risk of an AUD rally in the event of better economic news given that market positioning has become extremely short (close to the all-time low).

A combination of improving risk appetite, renewed search for carry, stabilization in commodity prices and reasonably strong growth in China will eventually help to spur the AUD higher. Clearly there are risks to AUD as the transition process to Fed tapering and higher US yields takes effect but assuming that US yields move gradually as opposed to rapidly higher it is unlikely to stand in the way of an AUD recovery.

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Australian dollar unworried by political developments

June 27, 2013 — Mitul Kotecha

The USD remains firm but is struggling to make further headway against major crosses. Some improvement in risk appetite, firmer equity markets and slightly lower yields today may limit the ability of the USD to extend its gains in the near term (as the USD usually suffers when risk appetite improves and US yields drop) although we expect any setback to prove temporary, with US Treasury bond yields set to continue to move higher over the coming weeks, albeit at a more gradual pace.

USD/JPY’s rebound has stalled over recent days despite the fact that US bond yields have continue to rise relative to Japanese JGB yields. My analysis of JPY performance during the last thee periods of sharply higher US yields shows that the JPY weakened versus USD in the first two periods and is on the verge of doing so in the third period (since early May).

Additionally the JPY has maintained a strongly negative correlation with US yields over the past 12 months. All of this suggests that the JPY will resume a weaker trend over coming weeks although markets may wait until the Japanese Upper House elections on July 21 and subsequent news of further reforms before pushing the JPY much weaker.

It if wasn’t enough that the AUD was suffering from higher US yields and China concerns, the announcement of a leadership election for the Labor leadership will have done little to bolster confidence in the currency. That said, politics is not an important driver of the AUD and the currency managed to eek out some gains despite Prime Minister Gillard’s loss in the contest.

Some easing in funding tensions among China’s banks has helped the AUD, with the currency showing encouraging signs of stabilization over recent days. However, its limited progress is still a long way from becoming a sustained rally. AUD/USD has a very negative correlation with 10 year US Treasury yields over the past 3 months, and continues to remain susceptible to further US yield increases until the market finally becomes accustomed the prospects of Fed tapering.

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US dollar running rampant

June 24, 2013 — Mitul Kotecha

A calmer tone looks like it will settle over markets today after recent sharp volatility. However, little relief to the pain inflicted on markets from tapering fears is likely this week. Weaker growth and funding concerns in China added another layer of uncertainty to the market psyche although comments from China’s central bank the PBoC about “fine tuning” may help to allay fears of a wider credit crunch.

Meanwhile across the pond Fed officials are probably quite frustrated by the market reaction to last week’s FOMC statement. There will be plenty of Fed speakers on tap this week to provide clarification, with markets looking for some soothing comments. Given the varying and diverse views among Fed officials such hopes may be dashed.

Data releases both in the US and Europe will be encouraging in terms of recovery expectations but will do little to ease the angst over tapering. In the US durable goods orders and new homes sales will record gains in May while June consumer sentiment indices will remain at relatively high levels.

In Europe, aside from the European council meeting this week the German IFO business confidence survey today and economic sentiment gauges later in the week are set to rise in June. In Japan the main CPI inflation gauge will stabilize in May although reaching the 2% inflation targets remains as difficult as ever while industrial production is set to decline in May due to still fragile foreign demand.

Most asset markets will continue to track bonds, with equities, and commodities remaining under pressure and the USD supported by higher US yields. Notably 10 year Treasury yields spiked to over 2.5%, a sharp increase over the week. Consequently the USD’s firm tone was expressed across a broad swathe of currencies, with Scandinavian, Latam and commodity currencies among the worst performers.

Emerging market and commodity currencies are set to suffer from continued capital outflows while the USD runs rampant. However, many currencies look oversold and over the near term some stabilisation is likely as they benefit from a slightly better risk tone at the turn of the week. As indicated by the latest CTFC IMM data, the USD long positioning has been cut back, suggesting scope for further gains. EUR positioning has turned net long for the first time in four months implying no further room for short covering.

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Bracing for a world without steroids

June 21, 2013 — Mitul Kotecha

The sell off of risk assets in the wake of the Fed’s surprisingly direct FOMC communication continues unabated. Hopes that Fed chief Bernanke would attempt to assuage market concerns about tapering have been blown apart and instead the reality of forthcoming tapering continues to bite leading to higher US yields, weaker stocks and commodities and a firmer USD. In fact the USD appears to have finally re-established its positive relationship with yields and risk aversion.

The situation hasn’t been helped by the fact that data out of China has disappointed while local money market rates had risen sharply this week. Separately Japan’s reform momentum appears to have stalled ahead of Upper House elections as Prime Minister Abe’s third arrow missed target.

In combination these factors mean that markets are bracing for the day that they no longer have steroid injections to keep them going. Instead fundamentals will become important to sustain gains in risk assets. Why should anyone be surprised? US growth is recovering and at some point tapering has to occur. Unfortunately risk assets were just not ready for this revelation.

Ongoing volatility and uncertainty is likely to persist over the coming weeks as markets transition to an environment of Fed tapering, but this will give way to a renewed improvement in risk appetite and lower volatility later in the year.

The USD index continued to rise overnight having corrected around a third of its losses since 22 May. Gains remain broad based with gains registered against major and emerging market currencies. US Treasury yield differentials with other countries continue to widen across the board leaving the USD in strong form (10 year Treasury yield has risen by close to 80 basis points since early May).

Going forward firmer US data, taken together with higher US yields, will continue to drive the USD higher against major currencies, while some improvement in risk appetite as investors become accustomed to the prospects of Fed tapering will allow emerging market currencies to recover some, but not all lost ground against the USD.

Many currencies have become highly sensitive to US yields, with the TRY, NZD and INR the most sensitive over the past three months although notably most Asian currencies are near the top in terms of sensitivities.

Against this background unsurprisingly Asia continues to register capital outflows. All Asian countries have registered capital outflows this month, with total equity outflows of $10.2 billion registered, led by South Korea and Taiwan. Obviously the bigger concern is for deficit countries including India and Indonesia, with their currencies remaining particularly vulnerable to capital outflows.

Recent market volatility has meant that the prospects of Japanese investors stepping up their outflows have diminished over the near term. The latest data released yesterday showed that Japanese investors repatriated capital for a fifth straight week.

It is only a matter of time before outflows pick up as risk appetite improves as US yields move higher. The US 10Y Treasury yield advantage has widened versus Japanese JGBs to around 153bp and I expect this to widen further to around 185bp by the end of 2013. This will be consistent with a renewed slide in the JPY versus USD.

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