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Today’s Notable Sentiment ShiftsGBP – Sterling rose slightly on Monday but remained within recent ranges as analysts said concerns about economic growth and inflation limited its gains from expectations that the Bank of England will raise rates. Reports from Societe Generale noted that their analysts believe “the FX market is going to blindly buy sterling on rate hikes that are down to supply-side inflationary pressures (Brexit having made sure the UK feels these particularly sharply) against the backdrop of a dismal run of falling monthly retail sales figures.” CAD – The Canadian dollar weakened against its US counterpart on Monday, as oil gave back its earlier gains, and investors weighed the potential for the Bank of Canada to push against recent moves by the market to price in multiple rate hikes next year.
by thunderpips
4
GBP USD - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The Sep policy meeting from the BoE saw money markets rushing to price in a much faster and more aggressive policy path than previously expected. Even though this of course falls in line with our bullish bias for the Pound, we do think the market is a bit too aggressive too quick right now. The bank did explain that they now see inflation above 4% by Q4 of this year, and the possibility of more sticky inflation was the key reasons why we saw a 7-2 QE vote split with Saunders and Ramsden both dissenting to cut purchases. However, it’s important to note that the remaining 7 members still see inflation as transitory, and the fact that they expect CPI above 4% means any prints that don’t come close to that poses downside risks. Furthermore, even though the bank said their expectations of modest tightening has strengthened, the admitted that lots of uncertainties remain. A big one of these is the labour market, where even though the number of furloughed staff have decreased, that decrease has materially slowed from August which poses more uncertainty for the labour market. Thus, even though our bias remains unchanged, and we see the bank lifting rates in Q1, we do think the over optimistic moves in money markets poses short-term headwinds. 2. The country’s economic developments The successful vaccination program that allowed the UK to open faster and sooner than peers provided a favourable environment for Sterling and the strength of the economic recovery has meant solid growth differentials favouring GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably priced, and the recent slowdown in activity data that suggests peak growth has been reached and could mean an uphill push for GBP to see the same outperformance we saw earlier. With our above comments about money markets, it also means that there is now more risk to downside surprises than was the case a few months ago. 3. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge it seems like these issues. On Friday, the EU ramped up some political posturing with reports that said they are mulling terminating the Brexit deal if the UK triggers Article 16. For now, these are just threats, but with rates markets still very aggressively priced any further escalation could increase the odds of seeing repricing downside in the GBP, so one to keep on the radar after Friday. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of +13594 with a net non-commercial position of +1615. Sterling have seen a very impressive rebound from recent lows as markets reacted positively to recent BoE comments which sparked additional downside in SONIA futures , which are now fully priced for a 15-basis point hike in Q4 and about three 25-basis point hikes by end 2022. Even though GBP has enjoyed upside on the tightening expectations, the reasons why markets are pricing a steeper rate path is out of fear of inflation and not due to a more positive economic outlook, which as we highlighted above does pose headwinds for the Pound in the weeks ahead if growth or inflation data surprise lower in the weeks ahead. USD FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: WEAK BULLISH 1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the FED More hawkish than expected sums up the Sep meeting. The FOMC gave the go ahead for a November tapering announcement as long as the economy develops as expected with their criteria for substantial further progress close to being met. The biggest hawkish tilt was the announcement about a faster pace of tapering, with Chair Powell saying there is broad agreement that tapering can be concluded by mid2022. Inflation projections were hawkish, with the Fed projecting Core PCE above their 2% until 2024. On labour, Chair Powell said he thought the substantial further progress threshold for employment was ‘all but met’ and explained that it won’t take a very strong September jobs print for them to start tapering as just a ‘decent’ print will do. The 2022 Dots stayed very close to the June median, but the rate path was much steeper than markets were anticipating with seven hikes expected over the forecast horizon (from just two previously). It is important here to note though that even though the path was steeper, if one compares that to a projected Core PCE >2% for 2022 to 2024, the rate path does not exactly scream fear when it comes to inflation . All in all, it was a hawkish meeting. Interestingly, it took markets about three days to realize this as the expected price action only really took hold of markets a few days later. A faster tapering was a key factor we were watching for an incrementally bullish tilt in the outlook, so market’s initial reactions were surprising. However, with the recent breakout in both US yields and the USD, this has given us more confidence in moving our fundamental outlook for the Dollar from Neutral to Weak Bullish . 2. Real Yields With a Q4 taper start and mid-2022 taper conclusion on the card, we think further downside in real yields will be a struggle and the probability are skewed higher given the outlook for growth, inflation and policy, and higher real yields should be supportive for the USD in the med-term . 3. The global risk outlook One supporting factor for the USD from June was the onset of downside surprises in global growth. However, recent Covid-19 case data from ourworldindata. org has shown a sharp deceleration in new cases globally. Using past occurrences as a template, the reduction in cases is likely to lead to less restrictive measures, which is likely to lead to a strong bounce in economic activity. Thus, even though we have shifted our bias to weak bullish in the med-term , the fall in cases and increased likelihood of a bounce in economic activity could mean downside for the USD from a short to intermediate time horizon (remember a re-acceleration in growth and potentially inflation = reflation) 4. Economic Data Economic data will be very light in the incoming week with the main highlights being PCE and Advanced GDP (old news). Also keep in mind that the Fed has largely reduced the impact of economic data going into the November FOMC meeting by already acknowledged a Nov taper and a possible mid-2022 conclusion. So, even though data will be important, it’s unlikely to sway the Fed from their tapering plans. 5. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of +872 with a net non-commercial position of +35934. Positioning isn’t anywhere near stress levels for the USD, but the speed of the build-up in large specular positioning measures over 2-standard deviation on a 1-year look back period. Thus, even though the med-term bias remains unchanged, it does mean the USD could be sensitive to mean reversion risks while still trading close to YTD highs. Thus, reflationary data and overall risk sentiment will be a key focus for the USD in the week ahead.
by thunderpips
1
GBP JPY - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The Sep policy meeting from the BoE saw money markets rushing to price in a much faster and more aggressive policy path than previously expected. Even though this of course falls in line with our bullish bias for the Pound, we do think the market is a bit too aggressive too quick right now. The bank did explain that they now see inflation above 4% by Q4 of this year, and the possibility of more sticky inflation was the key reasons why we saw a 7-2 QE vote split with Saunders and Ramsden both dissenting to cut purchases. However, it’s important to note that the remaining 7 members still see inflation as transitory, and the fact that they expect CPI above 4% means any prints that don’t come close to that poses downside risks. Furthermore, even though the bank said their expectations of modest tightening has strengthened, the admitted that lots of uncertainties remain. A big one of these is the labour market, where even though the number of furloughed staff have decreased, that decrease has materially slowed from August which poses more uncertainty for the labour market. Thus, even though our bias remains unchanged, and we see the bank lifting rates in Q1, we do think the over optimistic moves in money markets poses short-term headwinds. 2. The country’s economic developments The successful vaccination program that allowed the UK to open faster and sooner than peers provided a favourable environment for Sterling and the strength of the economic recovery has meant solid growth differentials favouring GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably priced, and the recent slowdown in activity data that suggests peak growth has been reached and could mean an uphill push for GBP to see the same outperformance we saw earlier. With our above comments about money markets, it also means that there is now more risk to downside surprises than was the case a few months ago. 3. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge it seems like these issues. On Friday, the EU ramped up some political posturing with reports that said they are mulling terminating the Brexit deal if the UK triggers Article 16. For now, these are just threats, but with rates markets still very aggressively priced any further escalation could increase the odds of seeing repricing downside in the GBP, so one to keep on the radar after Friday. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of +13594 with a net non-commercial position of +1615. Sterling have seen a very impressive rebound from recent lows as markets reacted positively to recent BoE comments which sparked additional downside in SONIA futures, which are now fully priced for a 15-basis point hike in Q4 and about three 25-basis point hikes by end 2022. Even though GBP has enjoyed upside on the tightening expectations, the reasons why markets are pricing a steeper rate path is out of fear of inflation and not due to a more positive economic outlook, which as we highlighted above does pose headwinds for the Pound in the weeks ahead if growth or inflation data surprise lower in the weeks ahead. JPY FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH 1. Safe-haven status and overall risk outlook As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver of JPY. Economic data rarely proves market moving; and although monetary policy expectations can prove highly market-moving in the short-term, safe-haven flows are typically the more dominant factor. The market's overall risk tone has improved considerably following the pandemic with good news about successful vaccinations, and ongoing monetary and fiscal policy support paved the way for markets to expect a robust global economic recovery. Of course, there remains many uncertainties and many countries are continuing to fight virus waves, but as a whole the outlook has kept on improving over the past couple of months, which would expect safe-haven demand to diminish and result in a bearish outlook for the JPY. 2. Low-yielding currency with inverse correlation to US10Y As a low yielding currency, the JPY usually shares an inverse correlation to strong moves in yield differentials, more specifically in strong moves in US10Y . However, like most correlations, the strength of the inverse correlation between the JPY and US10Y is not perfect and will ebb and flow depending on the type of market environment from a risk and cycle point of view. With bond yields looking a bit stretched at the current levels any decent mean reversion is expected to be supportive for the JPY, so it remains a key asset class to keep track. 3. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of -26100 with a net non-commercial position of -102734. The past few days of price action in the JPY was mostly driven by the excessive moves we saw in yields on the US side but was also exacerbated by risk on flows and rising oil prices which is a negative driver for Japan for its terms of trade. Even though the bias for the JPY remains firmly tilted to the downside, the move is looking stretched, and with both large speculators and leveraged funds firmly in net-short territory the odds of some mean reversion has increased, and we would prefer waiting for some of the froth to mean revert before looking for new JPY shorts. As always, any major risk off flows can still support the JPY, especially with quite a sizable net-short position still built up in the currency for large speculators as well as leveraged funds, but rates have been the key driver in the short-term.
by thunderpips
3
Today’s Notable Sentiment ShiftsUSD – The dollar dipped on Wednesday as risk sentiment improved and as investors focused on rising commodity prices and when global central banks are likely to begin hiking interest rates to fend off persistently high inflation. GBP – Sterling traded near a one-month high on Wednesday after traders said a dip in September inflation was unlikely to stop the Bank of England from raising interest rates soon. CAD – The Canadian dollar edged higher as CPI data showed an 18-year high, supporting the market’s “hawkish outlook” for the BoC and offsetting a drop in oil prices.
by thunderpips
1
EURGBP: Potential Trend-Following Setup 🇪🇺🇬🇧 Hey traders, This morning with my students we discussed a shorting opportunity on EURGBP. The pair is trading in a downtrend. Retracing from 0.842 level, the price reached 0.8465 strong resistance cluster. On that, the pair formed a horizontal trading range. To catch a trend-following move wait for a bearish breakout of the support of the range. You need at least hourly candle close below. Then short aggressively or on a retest with your first goal being 0.843 level. In case of a bullish breakout of the range, the setup will be invalid though. ❤️Please, support this idea with like and comment!❤️
Short
by VasilyTrader
9
Today’s Notable Sentiment ShiftsUSD – The dollar dipped on Tuesday as the rapid rise in US Treasury yields paused, and other currencies were boosted by expectations of sooner-than previously interest rate hikes. However, Scotiabank argues weakness in USD was also due to technical factors: “The movement in rates hardly explains the extent of the USD drops. Rather, it seems USD long liquidation has snowballed into a broader clear out of positioning, triggering a technical reversal in the USD generally.” GBP – Sterling hit a four-week high on Tuesday as expectations mount for the Bank of England to hike interest rates. Reuters notes that “While many countries share Britain’s problems of supply chain disruption, labour shortages and soaring energy prices, investors have singled it out as a country especially prone to inflation due in part to Brexit exacerbating bottlenecks. A November hike could make the BoE the first major central bank to increase rates since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic early last year.”
by thunderpips
3
Today’s Notable Sentiment ShiftsUSD – The dollar gained slightly on Monday as Treasury yields rose on expectations the Federal Reserve will need to hike interest rates sooner than previously expected to quell rising price pressures. GBP – Sterling steadied near a 20-month high versus the euro on Monday after BoE Governor Bailey said that the central bank would have to act on the risk of medium-term inflation, signaling that the central bank is gearing up to raise interest rates as inflation risks mount. NZD – The New Zealand dollar rose on Monday, as inflation jumped above expectations to a decade high, putting pressure on the central bank to accelerate its rate rising cycle, which sent bond yields surging. Indeed, JP Morgan notes that “We have expected the RBNZ to hike at the next two meetings and this result will keep them on track for that.”
by thunderpips
1
GBP USD - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The Sep policy meeting from the BoE saw money markets rushing to price in a much faster and more aggressive policy path than previously expected. Even though this of course falls in line with our bullish bias for the Pound, we do think the market is a bit too aggressive too quick right now. The bank did explain that they now see inflation above 4% by Q4 of this year, and the possibility of more sticky inflation was the key reasons why we saw a 7-2 QE vote split with Saunders and Ramsden both dissenting to cut purchases. However, it’s important to note that the remaining 7 members still see inflation as transitory, and the fact that they expect CPI above 4% means any prints that don’t come close to that poses downside risks. Furthermore, even though the bank said their expectations of modest tightening has strengthened, the admitted that lots of uncertainties remain. A big one of these is the labour market, where even though the number of furloughed staff have decreased, that decrease has materially slowed from August which poses more uncertainty for the labour market. Thus, even though our bias remains unchanged, and we see the bank lifting rates in Q1, we do think the over optimistic moves in money markets poses short-term headwinds. 2. The country’s economic developments The successful vaccination program that allowed the UK to open faster and sooner than peers provided a favourable environment for Sterling and the strength of the economic recovery has meant solid growth differentials favouring GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably priced, and the recent slowdown in activity data that suggests peak growth has been reached and could mean an uphill push for GBP to see the same outperformance we saw earlier. With our above comments about money markets, it also means that there is now more risk to downside surprises than was the case a few months ago. Even though the current fuel challenges should not be enough to derail the economic recovery, the NatGas shortage is much more serious and if not resolved quickly could add to some additional price pressures which in the past few sessions have seen even more aggressive pricing from money markets for additional tightening. 3. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge it seems like these issues could drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole as the cans are kicked down the road, but the risks of an article 16 trigger or possible post-Brexit trade sanctions is a risk that we want to keep in the back of our mind. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of +8039 with a net non-commercial position of -11979. Sterling have seen a very impressive rebound from recent lows with large speculators and leveraged funds at odds on whether it’s a buy or a sell. Markets reacted positively to recent BoE comments which sparked additional downside in SONIA futures , which are now fully priced for a 15-basis point hike in Dec and just shy of pricing in three 25-basis point hikes in 2022. Even though GBP has enjoyed upside on the tightening expectations, the reasons why markets are pricing a steeper rate path is out of fear of inflation and not due to a more positive economic outlook, which as we highlighted above does pose headwinds for the Pound in the weeks ahead if growth or inflation data surprise lower in the weeks ahead. That means this week’s CPI , Retail Sales and PMI data could be very interesting for the GBP, especially if the data surprises to the downside. USD FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: WEAK BULLISH 1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the FED More hawkish than expected sums up the Sep meeting. The FOMC gave the go ahead for a November tapering announcement as long as the economy develops as expected with their criteria for substantial further progress close to being met. The biggest hawkish tilt was the announcement about a faster pace of tapering, with Chair Powell saying there is broad agreement that tapering can be concluded by mid2022. Inflation projections were hawkish, with the Fed projecting Core PCE above their 2% until 2024. On labour, Chair Powell said he thought the substantial further progress threshold for employment was ‘all but met’ and explained that it won’t take a very strong September jobs print for them to start tapering as just a ‘decent’ print will do. The 2022 Dots stayed very close to the June median, but the rate path was much steeper than markets were anticipating with seven hikes expected over the forecast horizon (from just two previously). It is important here to note though that even though the path was steeper, if one compares that to a projected Core PCE >2% for 2022 to 2024, the rate path does not exactly scream fear when it comes to inflation . All in all, it was a hawkish meeting. Interestingly, it took markets about three days to realize this as the expected price action only really took hold of markets a few days later. A faster tapering was a key factor we were watching for an incrementally bullish tilt in the outlook, so market’s initial reactions were surprising. However, with the recent breakout in both US yields and the USD, this has given us more confidence in moving our fundamental outlook for the Dollar from Neutral to Weak Bullish . 2. Real Yields With a Q4 taper start and mid-2022 taper conclusion on the card, we think further downside in real yields will be a struggle and the probability are skewed higher given the outlook for growth, inflation and policy, and higher real yields should be supportive for the USD in the med-term . 3. The global risk outlook One supporting factor for the USD from June was the onset of downside surprises in global growth. However, recent Covid-19 case data from ourworldindata. org has shown a sharp deceleration in new cases globally. Using past occurrences as a template, the reduction in cases is likely to lead to less restrictive measures, which is likely to lead to a strong bounce in economic activity. Thus, even though we have shifted our bias to weak bullish in the med-term , the fall in cases and increased likelihood of a bounce in economic activity could mean downside for the USD from a short to intermediate time horizon (remember a re-acceleration in growth and potentially inflation = reflation) 4. Economic Data Economic data will be very light in the incoming week with the main highlight being IHS Markit Flash PMI data. However, also keep in mind that the Fed has largely taken the sting out of economic data going into the November FOMC meeting as they have already acknowledged a November taper announcement as well as a possible mid-2022 conclusion. Thus, even though economic data will still be important, it is unlikely that incoming data will sway the Fed from their tapering plans. 5. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of +3036 with a net non-commercial position of +35062. Positioning isn’t anywhere near stress levels for the USD, but the speed of the build-up in large specular positioning measures over 2-standard deviation on a 1-year, 6-month and 3- month look back period. Thus, even though the med-term bias remains unchanged, it does mean the USD could be sensitive to mean reversion risks while still trading close to YTD highs. Thus, reflationary data and overall risk sentiment will be a focus for the USD.
by thunderpips
2
Today’s Notable Sentiment ShiftsUSD – The dollar was slightly lower on Thursday in choppy trading, having erased most of its early session losses, as investors bet the Federal Reserve would begin tapering its asset purchases next month and attention turned to the timing of interest rate hikes. Indeed, Scotia Capital’s chief FX strategist stated: “I think what we’ve seen over the last day or two is a little bit of profit-taking. I don’t think this is, at the moment, anything close to a significant reversal in the dollar trend, and in fact, I think what we’ve seen today might be a sign that the corrective rebound that we’ve seen over the past day or two has perhaps run its course.” GBP – Sterling hit a two-week high on Thursday, adding to the previous session’s gains, as trader focused on hopes that a post-Brexit trade war with the European Union will be avoided and on expectations the Bank of England will raise rates this year.
by thunderpips
4
GBP USD - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The Sep policy meeting from the BoE saw money markets rushing to price in a much faster and more aggressive policy path than previously expected. Even though this of course falls in line with our bullish bias for the Pound, we do think the market is a bit too aggressive too quick right now. The bank did explain that they now see inflation above 4% by Q4 of this year, and the possibility of more sticky inflation was the key reasons why we saw a 7-2 QE vote split with Saunders and Ramsden both dissenting to cut purchases. However, it’s important to note that the remaining 7 members still see inflation as transitory, and the fact that they expect CPI above 4% means any prints that don’t come close to that poses downside risks. Furthermore, even though the bank said their expectations of modest tightening has strengthened, the admitted that lots of uncertainties remain. A big one of these is the labour market, where even though the number of furloughed staff have decreased, that decrease has materially slowed from August which poses more uncertainty for the labour market. Thus, even though our bias remains unchanged, and we see the bank lifting rates in Q1, we do think the over optimistic moves in money markets poses short-term headwinds. 2. The country’s economic developments The successful vaccination program that allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers provided a favourable environment for Sterling and the strength of the economic recovery has meant solid growth differentials favouring GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably priced, and the recent slowdown in activity data that suggests peak growth has been reached could mean an uphill push for GBP to see the same size of outperformance we saw earlier. With our above comments about money markets, it also means that there is now more risk to downside surprises than was the case a few months ago. Even though the current fuel challenges should not be enough to derail the economic recovery, the NatGas shortage is much more serious and if not resolved quickly could add to some additional price pressures which in the past few sessions have seen even more aggressive pricing from money markets for additional tightening. 3. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached at the end of last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge right now it seems like a never ending can kicking could see these issues drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of -21982 with a net non-commercial position of -20018. Sterling have seen a very impressive rebound following last week’s sell off. Right now, large speculators and leveraged funds are at odds with each other, with large speculators holding a net-short and leveraged funds still sitting on the largest net-long among the majors. Markets reacted positively to new Chief Economist Pill’s comments about inflation , which yet again sparked additional downside in SONIA futures , with money markets pricing in a 10-basis point hike in the next two months and more than 70 basis points of tightening in 2022. So, even though this amount of tightening should be positive for a currency, the reasons why the markets are pricing in the steeper rate path is out of fear of inflation and not due to a more positive economic outlook, which as we highlighted above does pose headwinds for the Pound in the weeks ahead. USD FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: WEAK BULLISH 1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the FED More hawkish than expected sums up the Sep meeting. The FOMC gave the go ahead for a November tapering announcement as long as the economy develops as expected with their criteria for substantial further progress close to being met. The biggest hawkish tilt was the announcement about a faster pace of tapering, with Chair Powell saying there is broad agreement that tapering can be concluded by mid2022. Inflation projections were hawkish, with the Fed projecting Core PCE above their 2% until 2024. On labour, Chair Powell said he thought the substantial further progress threshold for employment was ‘all but met’ and explained that it won’t take a very strong September jobs print for them to start tapering as just a ‘decent’ print will do. The 2022 Dots stayed very close to the June median, but the rate path was much steeper than markets were anticipating with seven hikes expected over the forecast horizon (from just two previously). It is important here to note though that even though the path was steeper, if one compares that to a projected Core PCE >2% for 2022 to 2024, the rate path does not exactly scream fear when it comes to inflation . All in all, it was a hawkish meeting. Interestingly, it took markets about three days to realize this as the expected price action only really took hold of markets a few days later. A faster tapering was a key factor we were watching for an incrementally bullish tilt in the outlook, so market’s initial reactions were surprising. However, with the recent breakout in both US yields and the USD, this has given us more confidence in moving our fundamental outlook for the Dollar from Neutral to Weak Bullish . 2. Real Yields With a Q4 taper start and mid-2022 taper conclusion on the card, we think further downside in real yields will be a struggle and the probability are skewed higher given the outlook for growth, inflation and policy, and higher real yields should be supportive for the USD in the med-term . 3. The global risk outlook One supporting factor for the USD from June was the onset of downside surprises in global growth. However, recent Covid-19 case data from ourworldindata. org has shown a sharp deceleration in new cases globally. Using past occurrences as a template, the reduction in cases is likely to lead to less restrictive measures, which is likely to lead to a strong bounce in economic activity. Thus, even though we have shifted our bias to weak bullish in the med-term , the fall in cases and increased likelihood of a bounce in economic activity could mean downside for the USD from a short to intermediate time horizon (remember a re-acceleration in growth and potentially inflation = reflation) 4. Economic Data This week we’ll finally have the September NFP print, but all the previous excitement about this event has been mitigated with the Fed’s previous meeting. The Fed’s comments that they don’t need to see a huge or stellar jobs print but that a decent print will do, has largely taken the sting out of the Sep NFP print. The current concern about inflation means that the Average Hourly Earnings release could be of more interest in market participants to see whether the current labour supply shortage sparks further acceleration in wages. 5. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of +5565 with a net non-commercial position of +32026. Positioning isn’t anywhere near stress levels for the USD, but with both large speculators and leveraged funds sitting in net-long territory, it does mean that the Dollar could be more sensitive from mean reversion while still elevated after the recent push higher into new YTD highs. Thus, possible reflationary data will be a key focus point for the USD in the weeks ahead.
by thunderpips
5
Today’s Notable Sentiment ShiftsGBP – Sterling rose on Monday after the Bank of England said inflation levels in Britain were concerning and urged Britons, in interviews published over the weekend, to get ready for earlier interest rate increases. BoE Governor Bailey stressed the need to prevent inflation from becoming permanently embedded above the 2% target, while Saunders said households must brace for “significantly earlier” interest rate rises. Antipodeans – AUD and NZD found support from rising commodity prices on Monday, while AUD also benefitted from the easing of coronavirus restrictions in the country’s most populated state – New South Wales.
by thunderpips
GBP CHF - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The Sep policy meeting from the BoE saw money markets rushing to price in a much faster and more aggressive policy path than previously expected. Even though this of course falls in line with our bullish bias for the Pound, we do think the market is a bit too aggressive too quick right now. The bank did explain that they now see inflation above 4% by Q4 of this year, and the possibility of more sticky inflation was the key reasons why we saw a 7-2 QE vote split with Saunders and Ramsden both dissenting to cut purchases. However, it’s important to note that the remaining 7 members still see inflation as transitory, and the fact that they expect CPI above 4% means any prints that don’t come close to that poses downside risks. Furthermore, even though the bank said their expectations of modest tightening has strengthened, the admitted that lots of uncertainties remain. A big one of these is the labour market, where even though the number of furloughed staff have decreased, that decrease has materially slowed from August which poses more uncertainty for the labour market. Thus, even though our bias remains unchanged, and we see the bank lifting rates in Q1, we do think the over optimistic moves in money markets poses short-term headwinds. 2. The country’s economic developments The successful vaccination program that allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers provided a favourable environment for Sterling and the strength of the economic recovery has meant solid growth differentials favouring GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably priced, and the recent slowdown in activity data that suggests peak growth has been reached could mean an uphill push for GBP to see the same size of outperformance we saw earlier. With our above comments about money markets, it also means that there is now more risk to downside surprises than was the case a few months ago. Even though the current fuel challenges should not be enough to derail the economic recovery, the NatGas shortage is much more serious and if not resolved quickly could add to some additional price pressures which in the past few sessions have seen even more aggressive pricing from money markets for additional tightening. 3. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached at the end of last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge right now it seems like a never ending can kicking could see these issues drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of -21982 with a net non-commercial position of -20018. Sterling have seen a very impressive rebound following last week’s sell off. Right now, large speculators and leveraged funds are at odds with each other, with large speculators holding a net-short and leveraged funds still sitting on the largest net-long among the majors. Markets reacted positively to new Chief Economist Pill’s comments about inflation , which yet again sparked additional downside in SONIA futures , with money markets pricing in a 10-basis point hike in the next two months and more than 70 basis points of tightening in 2022. So, even though this amount of tightening should be positive for a currency, the reasons why the markets are pricing in the steeper rate path is out of fear of inflation and not due to a more positive economic outlook, which as we highlighted above does pose headwinds for the Pound in the weeks ahead. CHF FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH 1. Developments surrounding the global risk outlook. As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver for the CHF with Swiss economic data or SNB policy meetings rarely being very market moving. Although SNB intervention can have a substantial impact on CHF, its impact tends to be relatively short-lived. Additionally, the SNB are unlikely to adjust policy anytime soon, given their overall dovish disposition and preference for being behind the ECB in terms of policy decisions. The market's overall risk tone improved considerably after the pandemic as a result of the global vaccine roll out and the unprecedented amount of monetary policy accommodation and fiscal support from governments. The Delta variant and subsequent impact on growth expectations is of course a sobering reminder that risks remain. Thus, there is still a degree of uncertainty and risks to the overall risk outlook remains which could prove supportive for the safe havens like the CHF should negative factors for the global economy develop. However, on balance the overall risk outlook is still positive in the med-term and barring any major meltdowns in risk assets the bias for the CHF remains bearish in the med-term . 2. Idiosyncratic drivers for the CHF Despite the negative drivers, the CHF saw some surprisingly strength from June. This divergence from the fundamental outlook didn’t make much sense, but the CHF often has a mind of its own and can often move in opposite directions from what short-term sentiment or its fundamental outlook suggests. Recent research from the team has revealed an interesting correlation between the CHF and simultaneous price action in both Gold and the USD which could explain some of the recent price action. We also need to be careful of the possibility of SNB FX intervention. Apart from that, ING investment bank has recently argued that recent CHF strength could be due to the lower inflation in Switzerland compared to the EU which meant that the real trade-weighted CHF has been trading too cheap. They also expanded that the ECB’s bond buying has meant that their balance sheet is expanding more rapidly compared to that of the SNB, which could have been reasons why the SNB did not see the need for any meaningful FX intervention lately. The bottom line is that there are often plenty of idiosyncratic drivers which might or might not impact the CHF and makes short-term price fluctuations a mixed bag for the most part. 3. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of -4092 with a net non-commercial position of -15679. The CHF positioning continued to unwind some of its recent surprising strength over the past few weeks. The CHF is back inside net-short territory as one would expect from a currency with an overall med-term bearish outlook. Even though we expect the currency to continue weakening in the med-term , any drastic escalation in risk off tones could continue to provide support for the safe-haven currency in the short-term and is always something to keep in mind.
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GBP JPY - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERSGBP FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH 1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BOE The Sep policy meeting from the BoE saw money markets rushing to price in a much faster and more aggressive policy path than previously expected. Even though this of course falls in line with our bullish bias for the Pound, we do think the market is a bit too aggressive too quick right now. The bank did explain that they now see inflation above 4% by Q4 of this year, and the possibility of more sticky inflation was the key reasons why we saw a 7-2 QE vote split with Saunders and Ramsden both dissenting to cut purchases. However, it’s important to note that the remaining 7 members still see inflation as transitory, and the fact that they expect CPI above 4% means any prints that don’t come close to that poses downside risks. Furthermore, even though the bank said their expectations of modest tightening has strengthened, the admitted that lots of uncertainties remain. A big one of these is the labour market, where even though the number of furloughed staff have decreased, that decrease has materially slowed from August which poses more uncertainty for the labour market. Thus, even though our bias remains unchanged, and we see the bank lifting rates in Q1, we do think the over optimistic moves in money markets poses short-term headwinds. 2. The country’s economic developments The successful vaccination program that allowed the UK to open up faster and sooner than peers provided a favourable environment for Sterling and the strength of the economic recovery has meant solid growth differentials favouring GBP. However, a lot of these positives are arguably priced, and the recent slowdown in activity data that suggests peak growth has been reached could mean an uphill push for GBP to see the same size of outperformance we saw earlier. With our above comments about money markets, it also means that there is now more risk to downside surprises than was the case a few months ago. Even though the current fuel challenges should not be enough to derail the economic recovery, the NatGas shortage is much more serious and if not resolved quickly could add to some additional price pressures which in the past few sessions have seen even more aggressive pricing from money markets for additional tightening. 3. Political Developments Even though a Brexit deal was reached at the end of last year, some issues like the Northern Ireland protocol remains, and with neither side willing to budge right now it seems like a never ending can kicking could see these issues drag on for a long time. For now, Sterling has looked through all the rigmarole and should continue to do so as long as the cans are kicked down the road. 4. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of -21982 with a net non-commercial position of -20018. Sterling have seen a very impressive rebound following last week’s sell off. Right now, large speculators and leveraged funds are at odds with each other, with large speculators holding a net-short and leveraged funds still sitting on the largest net-long among the majors. Markets reacted positively to new Chief Economist Pill’s comments about inflation , which yet again sparked additional downside in SONIA futures , with money markets pricing in a 10-basis point hike in the next two months and more than 70 basis points of tightening in 2022. So, even though this amount of tightening should be positive for a currency, the reasons why the markets are pricing in the steeper rate path is out of fear of inflation and not due to a more positive economic outlook, which as we highlighted above does pose headwinds for the Pound in the weeks ahead. JPY FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH 1. Safe-haven status and overall risk outlook As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver of JPY. Economic data rarely proves market moving; and although monetary policy expectations can prove highly market-moving in the short-term, safe-haven flows are typically the more dominant factor. The market's overall risk tone has improved considerably following the pandemic with good news about successful vaccinations, and ongoing monetary and fiscal policy support paved the way for markets to expect a robust global economic recovery. Of course, there remains many uncertainties and many countries are continuing to fight virus waves, but as a whole the outlook has kept on improving over the past couple of months, which would expect safe-haven demand to diminish and result in a bearish outlook for the JPY. 2. Low-yielding currency with inverse correlation to US10Y As a low yielding currency, the JPY usually shares an inverse correlation to strong moves in yield differentials, more specifically in strong moves in US10Y. However, like most correlations, the strength of the inverse correlation between the JPY and US10Y is not perfect and will ebb and flow depending on the type of market environment from a risk and cycle point of view. The rangebound price action in US10Y from July saw our conviction for more upside in USDJPY take a knock, and we have been waiting for US10Y to make a more sustainable break before we look to add longs in USDJPY. This week, we finally saw US10Y being able to clear the key 1.38% level that has acted as strong resistance since July. Thus, as long as US10Y manages to stay above 1.38% we would look for pull backs in USDJPY to look for med-term buy opportunities. However, since 1.38% was such a key level, any break and close below 1.38% for the US10Y would be an automatic trigger to reduce any exposure. 3. CFTC Analysis Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of +1066 with a net non-commercial position of -63694. The past few days of price action in the JPY was mostly driven by the excessive moves we saw in yields on the US side, with US10Y continuing to grind higher despite a softer US jobs report as inflation fears saw additional downside for bonds across the board. The inverse correlation to US10Y saw massive downside versus for the JPY this week ahead. As always, any major risk off flows can still support the JPY, especially with quite a sizable net-short position still built up in the currency for large speculators as well as leveraged funds.
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