In Brussels they’re starting to say
A soft Brexit’s soon on the way
Though talks remain tough
There could be enough
To reach an agreement today!

Nothing has changed with regard to which stories are market drivers, although on the equity front we now get to add Q3 earnings to the mix. But as far as FX is concerned, Brexit and trade still dominate the discussion. Regarding Brexit, the rumblings from Brussels have been far more positive this morning, with the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, explaining that a deal was still possible before the EU Summit on Thursday, but difficult. Apparently, the UK has submitted detailed plans of how they would like to address the Irish border situation, and there is serious consideration although negotiations continue. From Parliament, the word is that the votes will be there to pass any deal agreed by PM Johnson, as the Tories and Brexiteers recognize that Boris was a Brexiteer from the get-go. The Summit begins in two days, and I continue to expect that a deal, ‘in principal’ will be agreed beforehand. It should be no surprise that the pound has rallied on the news, after giving up some of Friday’s gains during the European session yesterday. This morning, Sterling is higher by 0.4%, although since we closed Friday, it is actually lower by 0.2%. Nonetheless, I continue to see scope for significant advancement here upon the news that deal has been reached.

As to the trade story, Friday also proved to be something of a false dawn as the Chinese backed away from the idea that a deal has been struck and are seeking continued discussions. This morning, however, there seems to be a bit more upbeat tone, even with the Chinese, as it is clear that talks will continue over the next few weeks at both mid-level and high-level (Mnuchin, Lighthizer and Liu He) conference calls. The Chinese have also figured out that they need to import a LOT if pork and that is something of which the US possesses a great deal. Overnight, Chinese data showed PPI falling 1.2%, meaning factories continue to lose pricing power, but CPI rose 3.0%, above expectations and starting to put pressure on the government. As part of that CPI rise, pork prices rose 69%! African swine fever is clearly taking its toll on the Chinese swine herd. This morning, the Chinese offered to remove tariffs on $50 billion of agricultural products if the US would remove a similar amount. While no decision has been made, I expect that there will be agreement on this subject as for President Trump, the demographics of the beneficiaries of this action would be his biggest supporters. Despite broad dollar strength since Friday, we continue to see the renminbi (+0.2% since Friday) perform well, a testimony to the PBOC’s efforts to prevent the currency from weakening, but also in response, I think, to the idea that there is positive movement on the trade front.

Away from those stories, we continue to see weak Eurozone growth data, with the German ZEW Survey falling to -22.8, slightly better than expected but still miles below its longer term average of +12.8. On top of that, a survey of 53 economists by Bloomberg has forecast that German GDP will shrink 0.1% in Q3, defining a technical recession in the country, and weighing further on the entire Eurozone. As I have repeatedly pointed out, the EU cannot afford a hard Brexit and are highly incented to reach an agreement this week. The euro, which had been holding its own of late has given up 0.2% this morning and a bit more since Friday and is back at the 1.1000 level, although that is in the upper half of performers in the G10 space. The biggest loser is NZD, which is down 1.1% since Friday after the RBNZ bid for bonds, which traders read as a form of QE, and which is tracking Aussie lower after remarks from the RBA indicate that further easing is on the way.

The other big loser this morning is the Norwegian krone, which has fallen 0.8% since Friday following oil prices’ downward trajectory. The latter is due to a combination of concerns over slowing global growth reducing demand for oil, while inventories continue to rise.

In the EMG space, INR is today’s largest mover, sliding 0.75% after CPI data was released at a higher than expected 3.99% in September. The rupee had been a beneficiary of inward investment based on the idea that quiescent inflation would allow further RBI rate cuts and enhanced growth and equity market performance. However, if inflation has bottomed, it seems that investors are likely to be a little more circumspect. Overnight there was clear selling of Indian bonds by international investors leading to the currency’s decline. However, beyond that movement, the EMG bloc had more losers than gainers, but none with a significant move or story.

On the data front this week, we see a bunch of middle tier data with the highlight arguably Retail Sales.

In addition to the data, we hear from a total of ten Fed speakers this week, ranging from the uber-dove James Bullard to the uber-hawk Esther George and every spot along the spectrum in between. Overall, the Fed message has been that they feel the economy is in a ‘good’ place, but they won’t hesitate to ease further if the data turns downward. Of course, their message was also that buying $60 billion / month of T-bills to help ease reserve conditions was in no way more QE. That is a much tougher circle to square.

Looking ahead, the market remains headline driven so care needs to be taken. There is no clear risk view this morning with both equity futures and Treasuries higher, and the dollar is mixed, again clouding any view. My expectation is that the market will likely tread water ahead of the next piece of news. And my money remains on that being a positive Brexit story.

Good luck
Adf