Chartbook: February 27
Slides from this week’s internal trading call:
EUR
Treading water
• Holding steady. A quiet start to the week with US bond yields easing back slightly and US equities edging a little higher.• GBP & EUR bounce. UK and EU agreed a new deal on Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements. But GBP continues to face structural headwinds.• Retail sales in focus. AUD has consolidated. After softening into year-end consensus is looking for Australian retail sales to bounce back in January. A quiet start to the week. The adjustment in expectations around how high the US Fed could lift interest rates this cycle and the flow through to bonds have driven markets...
Capitulation
Markets have given up on trying to fight the Fed. Yields and the dollar remain well-supported after Friday’s date showed the central bank’s preferred inflation measure accelerating in January, suggesting policymakers will have to move more aggressively to cool aggregate demand in the months ahead. The core personal consumption expenditures price index climbed 4.7 percent from a year earlier, up slightly from December as consumer spending jumped 1.8 percent month over month. This pushed market-implied terminal rate expectations above the 5.5 percent threshold, with back-to-back quarter-point hikes expected at the next three meetings. If historical price dynamics are any indication,...
Another US inflation surprise
• Higher US rates. Strong US inflation data generated another repricing in US rate expectations, propelling the USD even higher.• Fed needs to do more. Sticky inflation means the US Fed has more work to do. Positive US data can reinforce the upswing in US yields.• AUD slump. AUD is now ~6% below its early-February peak. Will this weeks Australia/China data provide an offset to the stronger USD? The outlook for US Fed policy continues to drive markets. US rate hike expectations took another leg higher on Friday, pushing US bond yields back up towards their peaks. This in turn...
Looming Inflation Data Reinforces Market Caution
Risk appetites and trading ranges remain subdued across the financial markets this morning as investors brace for an inflation report that could show the Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening efforts are having little effect on underlying price pressures – or on overall aggregate demand. The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure will land in less than half an hour, with markets prepared to see more evidence of overheating. Economists think the headline headline personal consumption expenditures deflator rose 0.5 percent month-on-month, with the annual rate holding at 5 percent. Consumer spending is seen increasing 1.4 percent from the prior month, and personal...