Central Banks week and the IMF head expects a crisisMonday turned out to be a fairly calm day for financial markets. The reason on the surface is a day off in the USA. So today it will almost certainly be more volatile and interesting.
The Bank of Japan set the pace to the news background early in the morning. Monetary policy parameters were left unchanged. The press conference will be somewhat later than the publication of this review, so if any interesting details come up, they will talk about them tomorrow.
Today will be interesting statistics on the UK labor market. Considering how disastrous the data on the British economy last week was, one should not expect any positive. Nevertheless, we continue to believe that Brexit is the main driver of the pound, and statistics in the current reality can lead only to local movements. Accordingly, weak data, of course, will provoke sales but are unlikely to lead to the formation of a trend. This means that purchases in intraday oversold areas remain relevant to us.
Let's get back to the events of yesterday. Perhaps the most significant was the opening of the oil market with a gap up. The reason is concerns about the supply on the market. The fact is that Iraq and Libya drastically reduced oil production. In Iraq, because of protests, in Libya, because of armed groups that blocked the pipeline. And although it is very likely that these force majeure are temporary, we recall our recommendation to buy oil, which continues to be relevant in the current conditions.
We also continue to be supporters of the impending crisis, or at least the strongest correction in the US stock market. So it was nice to note the replenishment in our ranks. The head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, in her last interview, compared the current situation to what was happening in the world on the eve of the Great Depression. A key common feature of the 1920s and the present situation is excessive financial squandering. According to the head of the IMF, depression cannot be avoided. The whole question is only in time.
In this regard, we recall our recommendations on buying safe haven assets (gold in the first place and Japanese yen in the second), as well as the “trading idea of the decade” - in the sale of shares of high-tech companies in the US stock market.
Libya
Further increase in oil is questionableThe relative calm of financial markets on Thursday. Important statistics were not published yesterday. There is nothing expected to change the current situation on Friday. So, it means we continue to work in the previous vein.
While there is a cooling-off period for the main issues of concern, let's talk a little about the future of the oil market.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) drew the attention of oil market participants to the fact that its more than 40% growth in 2019 is entirely due to the supply factors: OPEC +, sanctions against Iran, the problems of Venezuela and Libya - All this contributed to a reduction in supply in the market and higher prices.
So,the IEA experts believe that in the second half of 2019 the market focus may shift from the supply factor to the demand factor. And in this case, the situation does not seem to favor buying oil. Recall the IMF lowered its forecasts for the growth rate of the global economy once again. It means a slowdown in oil demand For the oil market. Sum up the demand may not grow strongly enough to push oil prices up in the future.
Concern about the failure of the second half of 2019 for oil is increasing by statements from OPEC that the cartel may increase oil production after June.
And although the things voiced by the IEA relate to the medium term, it is worth keeping them in mind when making long-term trading decisions. Nevertheless, here and now, trading on the intraday basis is still relevant. But the stops on buying must be set and be made as small as possible.
A possible quick correction in the oil market is a reason not only to think about oil sales but also about the sales of the Russian ruble, which recently has greatly reduced the level of correlation with oil quotations, however, it remains totally dependent on asset prices. Moreover, the current price of the ruble is very favorable for its sales.
Recall that in addition to intraday buying of oil and ruble selling on all time horizons, we are looking for points for intraday buying of gold, as well as sales of the dollar on almost all fronts (with the exception of the Japanese yen).