The ECB, Brexit, the Fed and capital flight from the RF

There were no particularly strong movements in the foreign exchange market on Wednesday. So let us analyze the main events of yesterday.

The ECB left the rate unchanged. The Draghi conference was perceived by the markets quite cool, at least judging by the dynamics of the euro. Although the head of the ECB did not say anything new. He noted that the output data remains weak. As for the details of the TLTRO program, they will be announced later and will depend on the economic situation. So we see no reason to change our recommendation on buying EURUSD from the current lower limit of the medium-term range.

UK Macroeconomic statistics appeared quite good on Wednesday. GDP turned out to be better than analysts 'forecasts (0.2% m / m with a forecast of 0% m / m) in February, industrial production was also higher than experts' expectations (+ 0.6% m / m with a forecast of +0.1). However, the reaction of the pound was quite restrained. The reason for this is the expectation of the EU Brexit decision. As we expected the EU gave Britain a Brexit delay on its own terms.

Brexit delayed until October 31. Such decision had no significant effect on our position. We will continue to buy a pound on descents. It is not necessary to wait for the pound growth in the foreseeable future above 1.40. In any case, it will not be boring. May still needs to convince Parliament that such a long delay is justified, so you should not relax.

Another important event on Wednesday was the publication of the minutes of the last FOMC Fed meeting. Despite the good dynamics of the US economy, the Fed sees a significant amount of risk from the outside. Accordingly, interest rate decisions will directly depend on the state of both the internal and external influence. At the same time, the Fed is prepared both to raise the rate and lower it. Well, while in conditions of uncertainty, the best option is to keep rates at current levels. Our position on the dollar remains unchanged - we are looking for points for its selling on the intraday basis.

We continue to talk about the ruble. The urgency of this increases with its attempt to grow. So yesterday, the ruble continued to strengthen, and we consider it our duty to recall why this is temporary and why it is worth selling. Yesterday we already wrote about a 10 trillion hole in the Russian banking system, and today we will talk about capital outflow from Russia.

According to the data of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the net outflow of foreign investments from the authorized capital of Russian companies of non-financial sector rose to $ 6.5 billion last year, which is a record value in the entire history of statistics since 1997. Against this background, Goldman Sachs released their forecast for the actions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in terms of the discount rate. Goldman analysts are expecting it to drop to 6.5%: in 2019 twice, each time by 25 basis points, and another three times by 25 basis points, that is 75 basis points, in 2020.

All this is definitely a bearish signal. They do not relate to immediate factors, but these are the things that determine the fundamental value of an asset. In this case it is the Russian ruble. So we continue to recommend its sales.