Previous post Next post

FX Daily, August 15: Greenback Firms, Encouraged by Dudley and Ebbing of Tensions

Swiss Franc

The Euro has fallen by 0.43% to 1.1397 CHF.

EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, August 15

(see more posts on EUR/CHF, USD/CHF, )
EUR/CHF and USD/CHF, August 15

Source: markets.ft.com - Click to enlarge

FX Rates

NY Fed President Dudley appears to have stolen any potential thunder in the July FOMC minutes that will be released tomorrow. While we put more emphasis on today’s US retail sales data and the August Fed surveys, many others argued that the minutes were the key report this week.

Dudley essentially confirmed what many economists have come to expect. This is that next month; the FOMC announces that it will begin not reinvesting the entire maturing proceeds starting in Q4. The initial pace of $6 bln Treasuries and $4 bln MBS is sufficiently small to be nearly inconsequential, except for the little thing; that it has never been done before.

Dudley also indicated that provided the economy continued to remain on course, he could support another hike before the end of the year. This too is very much consistent with survey results, such as the recent Wall Street Journal polls of economists. If anything, the market has moved away from the this, though most of the setback spurred by last week’s CPI report has been retraced. Lastly, we also think it is important that Dudley also included an observation about the easing of financial conditions. Since the spring, and in the light of softer inflation readings, we have seen financial stability arguments have become more prominent in the comments of the Fed’s leadership.

FX Daily Rates, August 15

FX Daily Rates, August 15

- Click to enlarge

Dudley’s comments underpinned US interest rates and the dollar. The US dollar is rising against most of the major and emerging market currencies. A chief exception is a Swedish krona. Firmer than expected inflation has sent the krona higher. Headline CPI rose 2.2% in July from 1.7% in June, and the underlying rate rose to 2.4% from 1.9%. Given Sweden’s growth (Q2 4% year-over-year) and the higher inflation, its monetary policy (minus 50 bp repo rate) seems out of kilter. The krona is at its best level against the euro since March. It is on a trend line drawn off the 2013 and 2016 lows (~SEK9.46).

The rise in US yields, recovery in stocks, and the step back from the brink in Korea lifted the dollar to almost JPY110.50 after having slipped briefly below JPY109 at the end of last week. The 20-day moving average, which the dollar has not traded above in nearly a month is found near JPY110.65, and a move above JPY111.00 would lend support to ideas that a bottom is in place. The near-term potential would extend toward the JPY112.30 area.

FX Performance, August 15

FX Performance, August 15

- Click to enlarge

United Kingdom

Defying expectation for an increase, UK inflation was softer than expected. The preferred measure (CPIH) was unchanged at 2.6^, while the month-over-month pace slipped 0.1%. The core rate was unchanged at 2.4%. It appears that softer fuel prices offset the increase in clothing, household goods, and food prices. RPI, which is used for transportation prices did tick up to 3.6% from 3.5%. Input prices for businesses fell to 6.5% from 10.0%. This is the largest decline in five years. It is not entirely clear that UK inflation has peaked. Many expect it to peak in a couple more months. However, this would seem to reinforce ideas that BOE is on hold.

U.K. Consumer Price Index (CPI) YoY, Jul 2017

(see more posts on U.K. Consumer Price Index, )
U.K. Consumer Price Index (CPI) YoY, Jul 2017

Source: Investing.com - Click to enlarge

Sterling, which saw no follow through buying yesterday after the favorable price action before the weekend, is at one-month lows today, as it approached $1.29. Recall that on August 3 it had reached nearly $1.3270. A five-month trend line comes in near $1.2840. The euro is recording an outside up day against sterling and is trying to establish a foothold above GBP0.9100, where a 510 mln euro option expires today.

U.K. House Price Index YoY, Jul 2017

(see more posts on U.K. House Price Index, )
U.K. House Price Index YoY, Jul 2017

Source: Investing.com - Click to enlarge

Germany

Against the dollar, the euro extended yesterday’s pullback and found support, some perhaps coming from cross demand, near $1.1720. It is the first time since late June that the 20-day moving average has been violated (~$1.1740). Slightly softer than expected revision to German GDP to 0.6% from 0.7% is not particularly significant. That said, we do suspect that German economic momentum may have peaked. There are roughly 1.3 bln euros of options struck between $1.1780 and $1.1785 today, and another 930 mln euros struck at $1.18.

Germany Gross Domestic Product (GDP) YoY, Q2 2017

(see more posts on Germany Gross Domestic Product, )
Germany Gross Domestic Product (GDP) YoY, Q2 2017

Source: Investing.com - Click to enlarge

China

The US dollar extends its advance against the Chinese yuan for the third day. Consistent with yesterday’s data, today’s reports also showed some slowing. This increased money supply and new lending. We note that new lending typically slows in July from June, yet the slowing this time was not as greater as expected.

The measure announced yesterday about intellectual property was milder than most expected. No actions were taken. No investigation was begun. Instead, US Trade Representative Lighthizer was asked to consider whether to investigate Chinese practices. This is consistent with one of our interpretative points: while the rhetoric may be bombastic, the actual trade actions have been tame, thus far, and not a break from the US traditional positions.

China New Loans, Jul 2017

(see more posts on China New Loans, )
China New Loans, Jul 2017

Source: Investing.com - Click to enlarge

United States

The North American session features the US July retail sales and August Empire State manufacturing survey. The Treasury’s International Capital flow report (TIC) will be reported at the close of the equity market, while import and export prices will lose in focus on retail sales. Retail sales are about 40% of consumption as measured by PCE. It has been soft for the past two months and is expected to have begun Q3 on a firm note (0.3%-0.4%).

U.S. Retail Sales, Jul 2017

(see more posts on U.S. Retail Sales, )
U.S. Retail Sales, Jul 2017

Source: macro.economicblogs.org/ - Click to enlarge

The Empire State survey is still consolidating the big surge in June (to 19.8 from -1.0). It averaged -2.5 last year and is averaging 10.8 through the first seven months of this year. Not on many calendars today is CBO’s ruling on the impact IF the administration stopped making monthly payments to the Affordable Care Act subsidies. It is difficult to envision any conclusion other than it would trigger more hardship regarding soaring premiums and unstable market. On the margins, this may support Treasury prices.

U.S. NY Empire State Manufacturing Index, Aug 2017

(see more posts on U.S. NY Empire State Manufacturing Index, )
U.S. NY Empire State Manufacturing Index, Aug 2017

Source: Investing.com - Click to enlarge

Canada

Canada reports July existing home sales. Canadian homes sales fell each month in Q2 as macro-prudential efforts in the Greater Toronto area bit. Many see the impact of such policies as being temporary. The effect of broadly similar measures in Vancouver last year already appears to be having diminishing results. The Canadian dollar rallied from mid-May through late July, helped by a rate hike. It has corrected lower this month. Important US dollar resistance is seen in the CAD1.2800-CAD.12820 area.

Graphs and additional information on Swiss Franc by the snbchf team.

Full story here Are you the author?
Marc Chandler
He has been covering the global capital markets in one fashion or another for more than 30 years, working at economic consulting firms and global investment banks. After 14 years as the global head of currency strategy for Brown Brothers Harriman, Chandler joined Bannockburn Global Forex, as a managing partner and chief markets strategist as of October 1, 2018.
Previous post See more for 4.) Marc to Market Next post
Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Permanent link to this article: https://snbchf.com/2017/08/15-fx-daily-chandler-greenback-firms-dudley-ebbing-tensions/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.