Though Brexit and China remain
For markets, both driver and bane
The rest of the globe
Is worth a quick probe
Since some things are clearly germane

The markets are beginning to demonstrate Brexit fatigue as each day’s anxieties are no longer reflected in price movements. Broadly, a hard Brexit is still going to be bad and result in a significant decline in the pound, and a signed deal should see the pound rally somewhat, but the political machinations are just getting annoying at this point. Yesterday’s news was the House of Commons voted to seek a delay, although there has been no definition of how long that delay should be. It seems PM May is going to bring her deal to the floor one more time to see if she can get it passed this time:

Although her rep’s suffered much harm
The PM has rung the alarm
It’s time to get real
And vote for her deal
Perhaps the third time is the charm

The threat to the Brexiteers is a long delay opens the way for a reversal of the process, so this deal is better than that outcome. Of course, as I have written before, a delay requires unanimity from the rest of the EU and given the uncertainty of what can be gained by a delay at this time, it still appears there is a real risk of a hard Brexit, despite Parliament’s vote yesterday.

The latest news is a delay
In Brexit is what’s on the way
But will that resolve
The issues involved
Don’t count on it in any way

As to the pound, yesterday it fell, today it is rallying, but in general, it is still stuck. For the past three plus weeks it has traded between 1.30 and 1.33, albeit visiting both sides several times. Let’s move on.

The China trade story continues in slow motion as hopes of a late March meeting between President’s Xi and Trump have now faded to late April. Of note overnight was a new law passed by the Chinese government that alleges to address IP theft and international investment. While that certainly appears to be in response to US concerns, the lack of an enforcement mechanism remains a significant obstacle to concluding the process. However, it does appear to be a tacit admission that IP theft has been a part of the program in the past, despite vehement protestations on the part of the Chinese. But for now, this issue is headed to the back burner and will only matter to markets again when a deal seems imminent, or the talks collapse.

So what else is happening in the world? Well, global growth remains under pressure with data around the world indicating a slowdown is essentially universal. German production, US housing, Japanese inflation, you name it and the data is weaker than expected, and weaker than targeted. What this means is that pretty much every central bank around the world, at least in the developed world, has stopped thinking about policy normalization and is back on the easy money bus.

While Chairman Powell takes the brunt of the criticism for his quick volte-face last December, we have seen it everywhere. ECB President Draghi will have spent eight years at the helm and only cut rates and added monetary stimulus, all to achieve average growth of a whopping 1.5% or so with inflation remaining well below the target of 2.0% throughout his tenure. And, as he vacates the seat, he will leave his successor with further ease ongoing (TLTRO’s) and no prospect of a rate hike for years to come. But hey, perpetual debt-fueled slow growth and negative interest rates should be great for the stock market! What could possibly go wrong?

Meanwhile, the BOJ finds itself in exactly the same place as the ECB, lackluster growth, virtually no inflation and monetary policy set at extreme ease. Last night, Kuroda-san and his friends left policy unchanged (although two BOJ members voted for further ease) and said that the 2.0% inflation target remained appropriate and they were on track to achieve it…eventually. Alas, unless anti-aging medicines are available soon, I don’t think any of us will ever see that outcome. The yen’s response was to sink slightly further, falling 0.2%, and it is trading near its weakest levels of the year. However, in the big scheme of things, it remains right in the middle of its long-term trading range. My point is that we will need a stronger catalyst than more of the same from Kuroda to change things.

Other noteworthy currency stories are the weakness in HKD, as a glut of cash pouring into the island territory has driven interest rates there down significantly and opened up a carry trade opportunity. The HKMA has already spent close to $1 billion supporting the currency at the floor of its band over the past two weeks and seems likely to spend another $5-$7 billion before markets are balanced again.

Sweden has watched its krone depreciate steadily as slowing growth has caused a change in the Riksbank’s tune. In December, it was assumed they would be raising rates and exiting NIRP given the growth trajectory, which led to some modest currency strength. However, the reality has been the growth has never appeared and now the market has priced out any rate hikes. At the same time, FX traders have all unwound those long krone positions and pushed down the SEK by more than 4% this year. While it has rallied 0.4% overnight, it remains the key underperformer in the G10 this year. in fact, there is talk that the Riksbank may need to intervene directly in FX markets if things get much worse, although given the lack of inflation, it seems to me that is excessive.

So you see, there is a world beyond Brexit! As to today’s session, we see a bit more data from the US including: Empire Manufacturing (exp 10.0); IP (0.4%); Capacity Utilization (7.4%); JOLT’s Job Openings (7.31M); and Michigan Sentiment (95.3). This is a nice array of data which can help give an overall assessment as to whether the economy is continuing to sag, or if there are some possible bright spots. But unless everything is extraordinarily strong, I imagine that it will have limited direct impact and the dollar, which has been broadly under pressure today (after a rally yesterday) will continue to slide a little. Right now, there is no strong directional view as traders await the next central bank pronouncements. With the Fed, that comes next week. Until then, look for range trading.

Good luck and good weekend
Adf