There once was a really big boat
Designed, lots of cargo, to tote
But winds from the west
Made it come to rest
Widthwise in the Suez, not float

A mammoth cargo ship, the Ever Given has run aground in the Suez Canal while it was fully laden and heading northbound toward the Mediterranean Sea.  The problem is that, at over 400 meters in length, it is blocking the entire waterway in both directions.  The resulting traffic jam has affected more than 100 ships in both directions and could take several days to unclog.  As a point of interest, roughly 12% of global trade passes through the Suez each year, including 1 million barrels of oil per day and 8% of LNG shipments.  The market impact was seen immediately in oil prices which jumped more than 3%, although remain just below $60/bbl after the dramatic sell-off seen in crude during the past week.  Canal authorities are working feverishly to refloat the ship, but given its massive weight, 224,000 tons, they don’t have tugboats large enough to do the job on site.  While larger tugs are making their way to the grounding, things will be messy for a while.  Do not be surprised if oil prices continue to climb in the short run.

The ECB picked up the pace
Of purchases as they embrace
The call to do more
Or else, answer for
The failure in Europe’s workplace

Meanwhile, from the House what we heard
Was Powell will not be deterred
From keeping rates low
If prices do grow
While Janet, on taxes, deferred.

Looking beyond the ship’s bow to the rest of the world, the two key stories so far this week have been the data from the ECB about increased QE purchases, as well as the joint testimony at the House of Representatives by Powell and Yellen.  Regarding the ECB, they announced they had purchased €21 billion in bonds last week, up 50% from the previous weekly pace of €14 billion, and exactly what one would expect given Madame Lagarde’s promise of an increased pace of buying.  Unfortunately for the ECB, European sovereign bond yields rose between 10-15 basis points while they were increasing purchases, as they followed US Treasury yields higher.  The problem for the ECB is that if Treasury yields do continue to rally (and while unchanged this morning, they have fallen back by 13 basis points since Friday’s peak), it is entirely realistic that European bonds will see the same price action regardless of the ECB’s stepped up purchases.  Of course, that is the last thing the ECB wants to see in their efforts to stimulate both growth and inflation.  Essentially, what this tells us is that the ECB does not really have the ability to guide the market in a direction opposite the global macro factors.  Perhaps, whatever it takes is no longer enough!

As to the dynamic duo’s testimony, there was really nothing surprising to be learned.  Powell continues to explain that while things are looking better, the Fed’s focus is on the employment situation and they won’t stop supporting the economy until all the lost jobs are regained.  As to inflation, he pooh-poohed the idea that a short-term burst in prices will have any impact on either inflation expectations or actual longer-term inflation outcomes.  In other words, he has been completely consistent with the FOMC statement and press conference.  As to the diminutive one, she promised that more spending was coming, but that it would be necessary to raise taxes on some people as well as the corporate tax rate.  The working assumption seems to be that corporate taxes are due to head to 28%, from the current 21% level, in the next big piece of legislation.  After that, they both had to defend their positions from rank political comments by Congressfolk trying to burnish their own credentials.

And in truth, those are the stories that are top of the list today, showing just how dull things are in the markets.  However, with that in mind, following yesterday’s late day sell-off in US equities, Asian equities were pretty much lower across the board (Nikkei -2.0%, Hang Seng -2.0%, Shanghai -1.3%) and Europe is entirely in the red as well, albeit not nearly as severely (DAX -0.6%, CAC -0.3%, FTSE 100 -0.3%).  And all this equity price action is despite the fact that PMI data from Japan and Europe was far better than expected, with, for example German Mfg PMI posting a 66.6 reading and Eurozone Mfg posting at 62.4.  Services remains much weaker, but in all cases, the outcomes were better than forecast, although still just below the 50.0 level.  It seems that there is more to the current level of fear than the data.  As to the US, futures here are higher led by the NASDAQ (+0.7%) with the other two major indices up by a more modest 0.3%.

In the bond market, Treasuries are seeing a bit of selling pressure as NY walks in, although the 10-year yield is only higher by 0.5bps.  Meanwhile, in Europe, there is a very modest bond rally (Bunds -1.3bps, OATs -1.4bps, Gilts -0.7bps) which is consistent with the modest risk off theme in equity markets there.  Price action in Asian bond markets, though, has been a bit more frantic with NZD bonds soaring (yields -15.7bps) as investors continue to respond to the government’s efforts to rein in housing prices, thus slowing inflation pressures.  This helped Aussie bonds as well, although yields there only fell 8 basis points.  The one truism is that bond market activity is far more interesting than equity market activity right now.

In the commodity markets, aside from oil’s rally on the supply disruption caused by the ship, price action has been far less significant.  Metals prices are very modestly higher (CU +0.35%, AL +2.1%, AU +0.2%) while the agricultural space is mixed, with a range of gainers and losers.

And finally, in the FX markets, the dollar is broadly stronger this morning, although not universally so.  In the G10, only NOK (+0.6%) and CAD (+0.1%) are firmer with the former clearly responding to higher oil prices, but also to a growing belief that the Norgesbank will be the first G10 bank to raise interest rates.  Meanwhile, the BOC, yesterday, explained that they were immediately stopping the expansion of their balance sheet, halting all programs, so also moving toward a tightening bias.  However, the rest of the bloc is softer, albeit by fairly modest amounts led by GBP (-0.3%) which posted lower than expected inflation readings.

Emerging market currencies are split in their behavior with ZAR (+0.9%), MXN (+0.7%) and RUB (+0.4%) all benefitting from the rising commodity price story while virtually every other currency in both APAC and the CE4 are softer on the decline in risk sentiment.  The one thing that is abundantly clear is that the EMG currencies are following the big risk meme.

Turning to this morning’s data releases, we see Durable Goods (exp 0.5%, 0.5% ex transport) and the preliminary PMI data (Mfg 59.5, Services 60.1).  Yesterday’s New Home Sales data disappointed at just 775K but was chalked up to a lack of supply.  It seems the supply of available housing is at generational lows these days, while prices rise sharply on the back of a doubling of lumber costs.  We also hear from Powell and Yellen again, this time at 10:00am in the Senate, but there is no reason to believe that anything different will be said.  In addition, four more Fed speakers will be heard, although the message continues to be consistent and clear, rates are not going to rise until 2023 earliest, no matter what happens.

For now, the dollar is benefitting from the market’s risk aversion, however, if Treasury yields fall further, I expect that the dollar will lose its luster and equities will find their footing.  On the other hand, if this is the temporary lull before the next lurch higher in yields, look for the dollar to continue to rally.

Good luck and stay safe
Adf