Tag Archives: #FX

Lack of Dismay

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The deadline for tariffs is nigh
And Friday they’ll start to apply
But so far today
The lack of dismay
Has forced pundits all to ask why

Tomorrow is tariff day, as the US is set to impose 25% tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods beginning at midnight tonight. The Chinese are prepared to respond in kind, and it seems that the second battle of the emerging trade war (steel and aluminum were the first) is about to begin. Interestingly, financial markets remain extremely calm at the prospect of escalation with equity prices rebounding from Tuesday’s late losses and the dollar ceding some of its recent gains. I question how long this can continue, especially if we move on to stage three of the battle, where President Trump has promised tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods. That poses a bigger problem for China as they only import about $135 billion in goods from the US each year (hence the deficit!)

The question at hand, though, is what type of impact this will have on markets going forward. Economic theory tells us that consumers will seek substitutes for those goods but that prices will rise somewhat to offset the effects of either paying the tariffs or accounting for the higher cost of the substitutes. In other words, inflation, which has been steadily moving higher in the US, is destined to continue that trend, if not accelerate somewhat. From there, it is a short hop to higher US interest rates and a stronger dollar. However, if this process continues long enough, it is likely to undermine the US growth story. If that were to happen, weakening data would likely cause the Fed to grow more cautious in their policy normalization drive. In that event, we are likely to see the dollar’s current strengthening trend stall. As is so often the case, one set of stimuli with a particular response leads to another set of stimuli with the opposite impact. The thing is, it will probably be 2019 before there is any indication that US growth is really slowing due to the trade story, and so I see only a limited chance that the Fed adjusts its policy trajectory this year. In other words, I think despite the tariffs, the Fed will still raise rates twice more in 2018.

Perhaps we will get a better idea of the Fed thinking on the subject when the Minutes of June’s FOMC meeting are released this afternoon. And while we have heard from several FOMC members that they are beginning to become concerned about the impact of the trade war, at this point, the data continues to favor policy continuation.

In the meantime, the dollar is a bit softer this morning as Germany finally printed some good data. For the first time this year, Factory Orders rose (+2.6%). While that is encouraging, it still begs the question as to whether this is the outlier number, or whether the previous five months of data were the aberration. But the euro is higher by 0.35% and pushing back toward 1.1700. That said, it has largely been range bound, between 1.1550 and 1.1750, for the past month. It doesn’t strike me that today’s data point is going to change that.

From the UK, Governor Carney was on the tape explaining that the growth picture there has been good enough to warrant higher rates if it continues. Yesterday saw the Services PMI in the UK rise to 55.1, well above expectations of 54.0, and its highest level in 9 months. The futures market has now increased its probability of an August rate hike to 82%, which barring any disastrous announcement on Brexit, seems sufficient to allow the BOE to act. However, nothing I have read has indicated that the UK is going to come up with a workable solution for the current Brexit issues, and I continue to believe that next March, the UK will be leaving the EU with no deal in hand. If that is the case, whatever the BOE was planning will come under renewed scrutiny, and it seems unlikely that rates there will go any higher. In addition, just like in the wake of the actual vote, I would expect the pound to suffer significantly at that time. All of this tells me that GBP receivables hedgers need to be very proactive in managing those risks, especially when we get a bounce in cable.

In the emerging markets, there has been one major move since I last wrote; MXN is higher by nearly 2.5%. While the move was just beginning Tuesday morning, the market has become enamored of the idea that President Trump and President-elect Obrador are going to be great friends and solve many of the problems that exist between the two nations. I don’t mean to be negative, but I find it hard to believe that will be the case. In fact, I expect that based on campaign rhetoric, the US and Mexico will see increased tension, which I am certain will lead to the peso suffering more than the dollar. In the end, Mexico is far more reliant on the US than the other way around, so stress in that relationship will hurt the peso first.

But otherwise, amid a smattering of data and news, the dollar is mildly softer this morning. After the Minutes are released and digested, all eyes will turn toward tomorrow’s payroll report. And in fact, we get a preview this morning with the ADP employment print (exp 190K) and Initial Claims (225K). We also see ISM Non-Manufacturing (58.3), which is likely to continue to show the current strength of the US economy. In the end, we are range bound, but as of now I still see a better case for dollar strength than weakness going forward.

Good luck
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A New Complication

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Last Friday it seemed immigration
Had ceased as a cause of vexation
In Europe, but then
On Monday again
It suffered a new complication

The euro first rose, then declined
But now there’s a new deal designed
To finally forestall
For once and for all
The chance Merkel might have resigned

Remarkably, the immigration debate in Germany continues to dominate the news. Last night, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer agreed to a new deal regarding the immigration situation and withdrew his threatened resignation. This led to a major sigh of relief in the markets as the fear of Frau Merkel’s coalition falling apart has once again receded. While Merkel clearly remains in a weakened state, if this deal can be signed by all the parties involved (a big if), the market may be able to move on to its next concerns. It should be no surprise that the euro has rebounded on the news, after all it has tracked the announcements extremely closely, but the rebound this morning, just 0.1%, has been somewhat lackluster after yesterday’s rout. Perhaps that has as much to do with the release of Eurozone Retail Sales data, which disappointed by printing at 0.0% in May, less than expected and yet another indication that growth in the Eurozone is on a slowing trajectory.

As an aside, if I were Mario Draghi, I might be starting to get a little more nervous given that the Eurozone economy is almost certainly trending toward slower growth and the ECB has very little ammunition available to counter that trend. Rates remain negative and QE is set to run its course by the end of the year. It is not clear what else the ECB can do to combat a more severe slowdown in the economy there.

But away from the daily immigration saga in Germany, the dollar has had a mostly softer session. This is primarily due to the fact that it had a particularly strong rally yesterday and we are seeing short-term profit taking.

China remains a key theme of the market as well, with the renminbi having fallen for twelve of the past thirteen sessions with a total decline of nearly 5.0%. While it has rebounded somewhat this morning (+0.35%), that is small beer relative to its recent movement. Last night, PBOC Governor Yi Gang was on the tape explaining that the bank would “keep the yuan exchange rate basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level.” That was sufficient for traders to stop their recent selling spree and begin to take profits. While there are some pundits who believe that the Chinese will allow the renminbi to decline more sharply, I believe there is still too much fear that a sharper decline will lead to more severe capital outflows and potential economic destabilization at home. As such, I expect to see the CNY decline managed in a steady and unthreatening manner going forward. But I remain pretty sure that it will continue to decline.

Other than those two stories, here’s what’s happening today. SEK has been the biggest winner in the G10, rising 1.25% after the Riksbank, although leaving rates on hold at -0.5%, virtually promised they would begin raising them by the end of the year. That is a faster pace than expected and so the currency reaction should be no surprise. However, keep in mind that Sweden is highly dependent on trade, and as trade rhetoric increases, they could well be collateral damage in that conflict. Aussie is the next biggest winner, having risen 0.7% after the RBA also left rates on hold, as expected, but the statement was seen as having a mildly hawkish tinge to it. But remember, AUD had fallen more than 4.5% in the past month, so on a day when the dollar is under pressure, it can be no surprise that the rebound is relatively large.

In the EMG space, MXN is today’s big winner, rallying 1.3% as the new story is that there are now more areas between the US and Mexico where President Trump and President-elect Obrador will be able to find common ground. Certainly both presidents are of the populist stripe, and so perhaps this is true. But my gut tells me that once AMLO and his Congress are sworn in (it doesn’t happen until December 1!) the market will recognize that the investment environment in Mexico is set to deteriorate, and so the currency will follow.

On the data front, yesterday’s ISM data was quite strong at 60.2, well above expectations and a further indication that the economic divergence theme remains alive and well. This morning we await only Factory Orders (exp -0.1%) and Vehicle Sales (17.0M), with the latter likely to be more interesting to market players than the former. Of course, tomorrow is July 4th, and so trading desks are on skeleton staff already. That means that liquidity is probably a bit sparse, and that interest in taking positions is extremely limited. Look for a lackluster session with the dollar probably edging a bit lower, but things to wind up early as everybody makes their escape.

Good luck
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Perhaps, Has Been Quelled

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In Europe the powers that be
At last got around to agree
On policy specs
That are quite complex
But take pressure off Italy

So immigrants now will be held
Off shore, and some will be expelled
Frau Merkel survived
The euro? It thrived
This problem, perhaps, has been quelled

The dollar is under pressure this morning, largely led by the gains in the euro, which has rebounded 0.75%. The proximate cause of this rise was news from the EU summit that they agreed on a new immigration plan designed to reduce the pressure on Italy, a key staging point for African immigrants to the EU, as well as create a series of camps in North Africa to detain asylum seekers and refugees while they are processed. This has been a huge issue in Europe, with significant divisions amongst the various players, and has been a key driver of the rise of right wing populism on the continent. While it remains to be seen if the agreement actually comes in to force, and if it is effective in its stated goals, at least for now the market is giving it the benefit of the doubt. One critical feature is the belief that German Chancellor Merkel has now removed the threat of her governing coalition partner, the Christian Social Union, leaving the government and thus CDU/CSU/SPD coalition will continue with Merkel at the helm. Given Germany’s preeminent role in Europe, there has been significant concern that if Merkel is pushed out, ensuing EU leadership will be unable to maintain the growth momentum that currently exists. And remember, data continues to show that growth momentum in Europe is slowing anyway.

There was one bright spot on the data front, though, as Eurozone headline CPI printed at 2.0%, exactly as expected, but a positive nonetheless. Of course, the rise was entirely attributed to oil prices, as core CPI actually disappointed, falling to 1.0%, still very far from the target of “just below 2.0%”. It is by no means obvious that a more genuine inflation impulse is brewing on the Continent just yet, and so I continue to believe that the ECB, while it seems likely to end QE in December, will still not be raising interest rates for quite a long time in the future. In fact, my sense now is that Eurozone rates remain at -0.4% until Q1 2020 at the earliest.

Speaking of rates, we did hear from two Fed speakers yesterday, with both commenting on the brewing trade war situation. Bostic and Bullard remain on the dovish side of the spectrum, with each of them explaining that they were quite concerned over the possibility of a yield curve inversion occurring, and both of them remarking that their conversations with businesses in their respective regions highlighted those businesses’ concerns over the trade situation and the impacts it could have going forward. Bullard, in fact, continues to maintain that the Fed needn’t hike rates any further this year, while Bostic seems in the one more time camp.

I think it is time to have a brief discussion on the yield curve inversion situation. To be clear, I am looking at the yield spread between 2-year Treasuries and 10-year Treasuries, which in more normal times, has traded in a range of 75bps-125bps. This means that the 10-year Treasury’s yield was that much higher than the 2-year Treasury’s yield. This morning, however, that spread is just 32bps, and has been trending lower ever since the Fed started tightening policy. When the spread turns negative, it is called an inverted yield curve, and the concern arises from the fact that every time we have seen an inverted yield curve in the past fifty years, a recession has followed within a fairly short period of time.

Now I greatly respect this historical indicator and it makes sense economically that an inverted curve would lead to a slowdown in economic growth, but I think it is critical that we remember one thing that is truly different this time. In the past, the Fed’s balance sheet represented a much smaller proportion of the economy, generally less than 10%, and so any bonds they owned had only a minor impact on market pricing. Therefore it was reasonable to believe that the 10-year yield was an accurate reflection of what the market demanded for that risk. However, that is not today’s situation. Even though the Fed has begun to reduce the size of its balance sheet ever so slowly, it still remains as ~22% of the economy. And if you recall what QE was all about, it was a price insensitive bid for Treasury bonds that was designed to drive long-term rates lower, and it succeeded in doing so.

My concern is that those long-term rates are still a reflection of the Fed’s buying activity during QE, rather than an accurate reflection of investor demands regarding the risk of holding 10-year debt. In other words, they are likely much lower than they otherwise would be, in the absence of QE ever happening, and thus despite the fact that short term rates have been rising and a curve inversion seems possible soon, it may not be giving us the same type of signal. Given the strength of the US economy, and the current US inflation rate, it would not be hard to make the case that 10-year Treasury yields should be 4.5%-5.0%. After all, that would equate to real rates of just 1.7%-2.2% based on the current CPI readings of 2.8%. And real rates of 2% + or – have been the long run historical average. So if the Fed buying has resulted in 10-year Treasury yields being 170bps lower than the historical record for the economy, perhaps the angst over an inverted yield curve is misplaced at current levels. This could well be the first time that the curve inverts and no recession follows. Food for thought.

Anyway, back to the markets. As I mentioned above, the dollar is broadly weaker, which is not only the result of the European situation, but also seems a simple price correction heading into the weekend. Japanese data showed Unemployment falling sharply, as well as the BOJ able to reduce the amount of JGB purchases necessary to maintain stability in rates in that market. Indonesia surprised the punditry by raising overnight rates by 50bps, to 5.25%, which helped support the rupiyah. And in general, the dollar is on its back foot today.

I have been expecting a correction, so this price action is no surprise. Meanwhile, this morning we get the latest Core PCE number, the critical inflation data point that the Fed uses in their sorcery modeling (exp 0.2%, 1.9% Y/Y). We also see Personal Income (0.4%), Personal Spending (0.4%), Chicago PMI (60.0) and Michigan Confidence (99.1) as the month and quarter come to a close. In the end, while the dollar is under pressure today, I continue to look for the Fed to maintain its tightening cycle and the rest of the world to lag, thus the dollar remains more likely to rise going forward.

Good luck and good weekend
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Not So Benign

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The worries in China have spread
From stocks to renminbi instead
Its recent decline
Seems not so benign
And could drive more market bloodshed

Well, if President Xi’s goal is to make China the most talked about nation in financial markets, he is clearly on the right track. Of course, he may not like the tone of the conversation!

Once again, Chinese markets are dominating the global discussion with continued declines overnight in equity markets there (Shanghai -1.1%, Shenzhen -1.3%) alongside the recent weakness in the renminbi. This morning, CNY has fallen a further 0.4%, with the dollar now trading above 6.60 for the first time since last December. It is becoming abundantly clear that the PBOC is quite willing to allow further weakness in what appears to be a reaction to the ongoing trade dispute with the US. In the past two weeks, USDCNY has risen every day with the total movement clocking in at more than 3%, and quite frankly, there doesn’t seem to be any reason for it to stop. Last night the PBOC was seen intervening heavily in the market in an effort to moderate the decline, but it seems highly unlikely that the government there wants to stop it completely. As I mentioned yesterday, their key concern is that a more rapid decline in the yuan will result in significant capital outflows, or at the very least a sharp drop in capital inflows, and that has the potential to destabilize markets in China, and eventually, elsewhere in the world. And for a country that has been trying to burnish its image as a responsible global financial citizen, causing global market destabilization is clearly not the desired outcome. At any rate, given the ongoing standoff regarding the US-China trade situation, it seems highly unlikely that CNY will stop falling soon. Look for a gradual decline with a year-end target of 7.00 still quite viable in my mind.

Away from China, however, FX market activity has been less exciting. While the dollar continues its broad trend higher, the pace remains muted. For example, this morning, amongst the G10 currencies only NZD has moved more than 0.2%, with kiwi falling 0.6% as the market prepares for the RBNZ meeting this afternoon. Expectations are for no change in policy, but the suspicion is that the bank is becoming more dovish due to escalating trade rhetoric between the US and China.

Important economic data from the G10 is more notable by its absence than by what it is telling us about the economy. Last night brought us UK Home Price data, showing the slowest rate of price increases in five years, with prices in London actually falling by 1.9%. Combining this with testimony by Jonathan Haskel, who will take his seat on the MPC come September 1st, which showed him to be somewhat more dovish than Ian McCafferty, the member he is replacing, has clearly weighed on the pound. Otherwise, we saw a bit of mixed confidence data from Italy, soft confidence data from France and weak Irish Retail sales. None of this was very inspiring as evidenced by the euro’s 0.2% decline.

Meanwhile, the emerging market space remains under pressure as concerns over trade weigh heavily on the sector. It is important to remember that virtually every EMG country is dependent on its export sector for economic growth, and as the global free-trade framework that has existed for the past 70 years starts to come undone, these economies are going to suffer. The only potential exception right now is for the oil producers as President Trump’s recent call for a complete boycott of Iranian crude products has helped drive oil prices up by nearly 4% this week. So RUB, MXN and MYR have been able to outperform their EMG peers, although this morning all three are down vs. the dollar. In fact, the dollar has demonstrated strength throughout the market today, just as it has been doing for the past several months.

As to this morning, we see Durable Goods data (exp -1.0%, +0.5% ex transport) and we hear from two Fed speakers, Randy Quarles and Eric Rosengren. However, it seems unlikely that any of this will have a major market impact. Rather, I expect that the broad equity weakness that has been evident of late will continue (currently futures are pointing to a -0.5% opening in the US) and the risk-off tone that has engendered will help the dollar to remain underpinned. And of course, there is the ever present risk of some new commentary from President Trump that has the chance to upset markets. So volatility remains a good bet, as does modest continued dollar strength. This story is not even close to ending.

Good luck
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