Despite signs that growth is now slowing
Said Draghi, he would keep on going
With plans to soon end
The doves’ greatest friend
QE, which has kept Europe growing

While all eyes have been focused on the recent equity market gyrations, which in fairness have been impressive, there are other things ongoing that continue to have medium and long-term ramifications. One of the most important is the ECB and its future path of monetary policy. Yesterday, to no one’s surprise they left policy on hold, but of more interest were the comments Signor Draghi made during his press conference following the meeting. Notably, he continued to characterize the risks to the Eurozone economy as “balanced” despite the fact that virtually every piece of data we have seen in the past two months has indicated growth is slowing there more rapidly than previously anticipated.

If you recall, the declared rationale for the ending of QE was that Eurozone growth had been running above its potential throughout 2017 and it was expected to continue to do so this year. Alas, that no longer seems to be the case. Instead, recent data indicates that the growth impulse there is back at potential, if not slightly below. Recent PMI and IP data have all shown weakness, which when added to the stresses induced by Brexit uncertainty and slowing growth in China make for a substandard future. But not according to Draghi, who indicated that the ECB is going to end QE in December regardless, and that rate hikes are still slated to start next year. Perhaps he is correct and this is simply a temporary rough patch. The problem is the message from recent equity market performance is that there is a growing widespread concern that trouble is brewing everywhere around the world. Of course Draghi’s biggest problem is that if the Eurozone tips into a recession in 2019, they will have a serious problem trying to add monetary stimulus to the economy given the current, still ultra easy, settings. As I have written frequently in the past, this is why I continue to expect the dollar to outperform going forward. Yesterday saw the early morning rally in the euro reverse completely and the single currency closed -0.2%, and this morning it is a further 0.25% lower. The trend is your friend, and this trend is still for a lower euro.

In the meantime, we continue to see Brexit uncertainty plague the pound, which after a 0.5% decline yesterday has continued to fall this morning (-0.2%) as there is no indication that a compromise is in the offing. With the pound back to its lowest levels since late summer, and the trend decidedly lower, it will take a significant breakthrough in the Brexit negotiations to change things. This morning, the NIESR (a well-regarded British economic research institute) published a report that a hard Brexit will result in GDP growth being 1.6% lower than it otherwise would have been in 2019. That’s a pretty big hit, and simply adds to the Brexit concerns going forward. But the clock is still ticking and there is no indication that a solution can be found for the Irish border situation. One side will have to cave, and at this point, my money is on the UK.

As to the rest of the G10 space, the commodity bloc (AUD, CAD and NZD) has had a rough go of it overnight, with all three falling 0.5% or more in the session. It seems that concerns over slowing Chinese and global growth is being recognized as commodity prices continue to slide. With that, these currencies are also taking a beating with Aussie falling back near 0.7000, its lowest level since January 2016. Keep in mind that the more questions that are raised about the global growth trajectory, the more these currencies are likely to suffer.

Turning to our favorite EMG currency, CNY, it traded to a new low for the move overnight, although has since recouped some of those losses. The PBOC fixed the yuan at another new low (6.9510), and that saw both the offshore and onshore markets push the currency down below (dollar above) 6.9700. This is the weakest that the renminbi has been since December 2016 when the PBOC was forced to intervene more aggressively to prevent a rout. Remember they remain extremely concerned that if it trades above 7.00 that will be seen as a trigger for an increase in capital outflows from the country, and lead to a spiraling lower currency and greater domestic issues. Last time the market reached these levels, the PBOC withdrew liquidity from the offshore market, driving interest rates there massively higher, and forcing speculators with short positions to cover. That could well be what we will see next week, but as of now, there has been no activity like that observed. Speculators will only be deterred if the cost of speculation is high, which is not yet the case. Given that, I expect that we will see a run at 7.00 before long, likely next week, unless the PBOC acts. Words will not be sufficient to stop the move.

Away from CNY, other EMG currencies are almost universally weaker with declines ranging between 0.1% and 0.6%. The point is that this is a wide and shallow move, not one driven by specific national idiosyncrasies.

Yesterday’s data showed that defense spending was propping up the US manufacturing sector, with Durable Goods surprising to the high side although the ex-Defense number was soft. This morning, however, brings the most important data of the week, Q3 GDP. The median forecast is for growth of 3.3% and there will be a great deal of scrutiny on any revisions to Q2. A strong number ought to help support the dollar, as it will back up the Fed’s contention that strong growth demands higher interest rates. A soft number, or a big revision lower to Q2, seems likely to have a bigger impact though, as positions are still long dollars, and that would be a chink in its armor. Later this morning we see the Michigan Consumer Sentiment data (exp 99.0) and we also hear from Signor Draghi again, perhaps to try to clarify his message. But as it stands, if data is as expected, the dollar remains the best bet. This is even more likely if we continue to see equity markets decline. Spoiler alert, they have been doing that in Asia and Europe, and US futures are pointing in the same direction!

Good luck and good weekend
Adf