FOMC Sets New Course

2021-11-22

Overview:  The US dollar has come back bid from the weekend against most currencies following the talk by a couple of Fed governors about the possibility of accelerating the tapering at next month’s FOMC meeting.  The weekend also saw protests against the social restrictions being imposed by several European countries in the face of a surge in Covid cases.  The Swedish krona, yen, and sterling are the weakest, while the dollar-bloc currencies are resisting the greenback’s tug. Most of the freely accessible and liquid currencies among emerging market currencies, including Russia, Hungary, South Africa, and Mexico, are heavy. At the same time, the Turkish lira recoups a little of the ground lost last week, and the Chinese yuan shrugged off apparently warnings from the PBOC to post its first

2021-11-20

The flash November PMIs would be the main focus in the week ahead if it were more normal times.  But these are not normal times, and growth prospects are not the key driver of the investment climate.  This quarters’ growth is largely baked into the cake.  The world’s three largest economies, the US, China, and Japan, are likely to accelerate for different reasons in Q4 from Q3.  Europe is the weak sibling, and growth in the eurozone and UK may slow sequentially.  The fiscal and monetary induced rebound from the global shutdown last year has peaked. However, there is still sufficient support for growth in most high-income and medium-income countries to remain above trend for a few more quarters.  The rebuilding of inventory will also help sustain growth through the first half of next

2021-11-13

At the halfway point of Q4, the markets’ focus is on three things:  inflation, growth, and central banks’ response. With US and Chinese October inflation readings behind us, the focus shifts to the real economy’s performance, the world’s two largest economies reporting retail sales and industrial production figures.   Helped by stronger auto sales, the first increase in six months, US retail sales likely turned in another solid showing of around 0.8%, the average pace in August and September.  The core measure, which some models use to help forecast GDP, posted back-to-back increases in August and September for the first time in nearly a year.  It rose by 0.8% in September, half of this year’s average in a highly volatile year (range this year -3.3% to up 8.6% month-over-month). More

2021-10-23

The macro highlights for the week ahead fall into three categories.  First are the preliminary estimates for Q3 GDP by the US and the EMU.  Second, are the inflation reports by the same two.  The US sees the September PCE deflator, which the Fed targets, while the eurozone releases the first estimate for October CPI.  Third are the meetings of three G7 central banks, the BOJ, the ECB, and the Bank of Canada. The broad backdrop includes softening PMI readings, the continued rise in oil prices, and a sharp backing up of interest rates.   On the eve of last month’s FOMC meeting conclusion, the August 2022 Fed funds future contract implied an average effective rate of 11 bp.   It is now yielding almost 32 bp, nearly completely discounting a 25 bp rate hike at the late July 2022 FOMC meeting

2021-09-13

Overview:  There are two big themes in the capital markets today.  The first is the ongoing push of the Chinese state into what was the private sector.  Today’s actions involve breaking Ant’s lending arms into separate entities, with the state taking a stake.  This weighed on Chinese shares and Hong Kong, where many are lists. On the other hand, Japanese markets extended their recent gains.

2021-08-06

Overview: Record high closes yesterday for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ have done little to help global equities today.  Most of the Asia Pacific region markets, but Japan and Australia slipped ahead of the weekend while still holding on to gains for the week.