GBP
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: WEAK BULLISH
1. Monetary Policy
Hawkish surprise with a hint of dovish undertones sums up the Feb BoE decision. The bank announced the start of passive QT and hiked rates by 25bsp as expected, but the vote split was unanimous (9-0) but with a big hawkish surprise being 4 MPC members voting for a 50bsp hike. Inflation forecasts saw a big upward revision to a 7.25% peak by April ( prev . 6.0%) & 5.21% in 1-year ( prev . 3.40%). This initial hawkish statement saw immediate strength for GBP but during the press conference the BoE tried their best to get a dovish landing. Gov Bailey started his opening remarks by noting that the MPC’s decision to hike was not because the economy was strong but only because higher rates were necessary to return inflation to target, and even though he opened the door for further hikes he added that markets should not assume rates are on a long march higher. He also acknowledged the stagflation fears recently voiced by some market participants by saying that policy faces a trade-off between weakening growth and higher inflation . Despite the dovish nuances, STIR markets still price an implied cash rate of 1.0% by May which would mean a 25bsp in both March and May (1.0% is the level the BoE previously said they would being outright Gilt selling). Overall, the statement was hawkish, but the clear dovish undertones from the BoE was a bit surprising and also a bit worrisome for the future outlook.
2. Economic & Health Developments
Even though growth estimates for the UK remain on solid footing, not everyone shares that optimism (Refinitiv polling data). With inflation the main reason for the BoE’s recent rate hikes, there is a concern that the UK economy faces a risk of stagflation, with inflation staying sticky while growth decelerates. That also means that current market expectations for rates looks way too aggressive and means downside risks for GBP should growth data push lower and inflation data stay high or even accelerate from here.
3. Political Developments
Domestic political uncertainty usually leads to higher risk premiumsfor GBP, so the fate of PM Johnson remains a focus. Fallout from the heavily redacted Sue Gray report was limited but with growing distrust from within his party the question remains whether a vote of no-confidence will happen (if so, that could see short-term downside), and then focus will be on whether the PM can survive an actual vote of no-confidence, where a win should be GBP positive and negative for GBP if he loses. The Northern Ireland protocol is still in focus with the UK threatening to trigger Article 16 and the EU threatening to terminate the Brexit deal if they do. For now, markets have rightly ignored this as posturing, but any actual escalation can see sharp downside for GBP.
4. CFTC Analysis
With the most recent CFTC data is seems like leveraged funds have once again added to their net-longs for the Pound, and this is also the 2nd week where asset managers have reduced net-shorts, and large speculators are in positive territory. It seems sentiment is improving based on the recent positioning data alone.
5. The Week Ahead
Very quiet data week scheduled for the GBP. The one event to watch though, and one that we think carries some downside risks to it is the Monetary Policy Report Hearings coming up on Wednesday. During these hearings the Governor and members of the MPC testify before the Treasury Committee. The Fed’s tone after the Feb policy decision means there is some downside risk to Sterling going into the hearing. Recall that Sterling struggled to maintain upside following the decision, despite seeing 4 of the 9 members voting for a 50bsp hike and despite big upgrades to the inflation outlook. The reason for this was the clear dovish tone exhibit by the Governor and Deputy Governor during the press conference, where they clearly tried to downplay the hawkish elements and stressed that their decision to hike rates was not based on the economy doing really well but rather because they think action was required to push inflation lower. With STIR markets pricing in close to 6 hikes for the BoE for the rest of the year, any further dovish push back from the bank during the hearing can see some of that froth priced out and can weigh on Sterling and gilt yields. We’ll be looking for any specific mention and push back against the current market implied rate path, and also for any potential clarity regarding the balance sheet with Chief Economist Pill recently saying the option to start selling gilts outright (QT) is not a done deal and is still a point of consideration. Thus, given the tone used at the presser as well as recent comments from the likes of Pill means there is downside risk for GBP going into the hearing.
JPY
FUDNAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH
1. Monetary Policy
No surprises from the BoJ at their Jan meeting. Despite some source reports which surprisingly suggested that the bank was starting to debate how soon a rate increase can be signalled, Governor Kuroda put that speculation to rest by stressing that the BoJ is not considering any hikes or tweaks to the current policy easing. The bank noted that risks to the inflation outlook are roughly balanced but risks to growth outlook is skewed to the downside. The Governor didn’t comment on specific FX levels, but said the current weak JPY is not bad for the economy. He also explained that it is not appropriate to stop the temporary inflation increases they are seeing by using monetary policy and that it’s too early to debate an exit from their current policy stance. The bank said that Japan will continue its expansive monetary policy unlike other G7s, and they are actively monitoring the economic impact from COVID-19 and won’t hesitate to add easing if necessary.
2. Safe-haven status and overall risk outlook
As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver. Economic data rarely proves market moving, and although monetary policy expectations can be 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 ongoing monetary and fiscal policy support paved the way for markets to expect a robust global economic recovery. However, as the Fed and other banks start to normalize, we do need to remember that it means those fiscal and monetary policy support are being reduced, which could mean a lot more volatility for markets in the weeks and months ahead. Even though that doesn’t mean our med-term bias for the JPY has changed, it simply means that we should expect more risk sentiment ebbs and flows this year, and the heightened volatility can create some fantastic directional moves in the JPY, as long as yields play their part.
3. Low-yielding currency with inverse correlation to US10Y
As a low yielding currency, the JPY usually shares a strong inverse correlation to 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 isn’t perfect and will ebb and flow depending on the type of market environment from both a risk and cycle point of view. With the Fed tilting more aggressive, we think that opens up more room for curve flattening to take place with US02Y likely pushing higher while US10Y underperform. In this environment we do see some mild upside risks for the JPY, but we should not look at the influence from yields in isolation and weigh it up alongside underlying risk sentiment and price action in the USD of course.
4. CFTC Analysis
Even though the JPY’s med-term outlook remains bearish, the big net-shorts for both large specs and leveraged funds always increases odds of punchy mean reversion when risk sentiment deteriorates. Thus, equities & US10Y will remain very important drivers for the JPY in the weeks ahead.
5. The Week Ahead
In the week ahead, we once again expect one of the biggest influences for the JPY to be on geopolitics, with further escalations in tensions between Russia and Ukraine expected to see safe haven inflows into the JPY, and any de-escalations expected to see safe haven outflows from the JPY. Apart from risk sentiment, we’ll also be keeping a close eye on US10Y. With risk sentiment still shaky, and prospects of the economy being unscathed by the Fed’s hawkish plans looking slim right now, we still expect long-end yields to push lower in the weeks ahead, and if that happens it should prove supportive for the JPY (of course keeping equities in mind as well as downside in yields but upside in equities would see both a push and pull effect on the JPY).
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: WEAK BULLISH
1. Monetary Policy
Hawkish surprise with a hint of dovish undertones sums up the Feb BoE decision. The bank announced the start of passive QT and hiked rates by 25bsp as expected, but the vote split was unanimous (9-0) but with a big hawkish surprise being 4 MPC members voting for a 50bsp hike. Inflation forecasts saw a big upward revision to a 7.25% peak by April ( prev . 6.0%) & 5.21% in 1-year ( prev . 3.40%). This initial hawkish statement saw immediate strength for GBP but during the press conference the BoE tried their best to get a dovish landing. Gov Bailey started his opening remarks by noting that the MPC’s decision to hike was not because the economy was strong but only because higher rates were necessary to return inflation to target, and even though he opened the door for further hikes he added that markets should not assume rates are on a long march higher. He also acknowledged the stagflation fears recently voiced by some market participants by saying that policy faces a trade-off between weakening growth and higher inflation . Despite the dovish nuances, STIR markets still price an implied cash rate of 1.0% by May which would mean a 25bsp in both March and May (1.0% is the level the BoE previously said they would being outright Gilt selling). Overall, the statement was hawkish, but the clear dovish undertones from the BoE was a bit surprising and also a bit worrisome for the future outlook.
2. Economic & Health Developments
Even though growth estimates for the UK remain on solid footing, not everyone shares that optimism (Refinitiv polling data). With inflation the main reason for the BoE’s recent rate hikes, there is a concern that the UK economy faces a risk of stagflation, with inflation staying sticky while growth decelerates. That also means that current market expectations for rates looks way too aggressive and means downside risks for GBP should growth data push lower and inflation data stay high or even accelerate from here.
3. Political Developments
Domestic political uncertainty usually leads to higher risk premiumsfor GBP, so the fate of PM Johnson remains a focus. Fallout from the heavily redacted Sue Gray report was limited but with growing distrust from within his party the question remains whether a vote of no-confidence will happen (if so, that could see short-term downside), and then focus will be on whether the PM can survive an actual vote of no-confidence, where a win should be GBP positive and negative for GBP if he loses. The Northern Ireland protocol is still in focus with the UK threatening to trigger Article 16 and the EU threatening to terminate the Brexit deal if they do. For now, markets have rightly ignored this as posturing, but any actual escalation can see sharp downside for GBP.
4. CFTC Analysis
With the most recent CFTC data is seems like leveraged funds have once again added to their net-longs for the Pound, and this is also the 2nd week where asset managers have reduced net-shorts, and large speculators are in positive territory. It seems sentiment is improving based on the recent positioning data alone.
5. The Week Ahead
Very quiet data week scheduled for the GBP. The one event to watch though, and one that we think carries some downside risks to it is the Monetary Policy Report Hearings coming up on Wednesday. During these hearings the Governor and members of the MPC testify before the Treasury Committee. The Fed’s tone after the Feb policy decision means there is some downside risk to Sterling going into the hearing. Recall that Sterling struggled to maintain upside following the decision, despite seeing 4 of the 9 members voting for a 50bsp hike and despite big upgrades to the inflation outlook. The reason for this was the clear dovish tone exhibit by the Governor and Deputy Governor during the press conference, where they clearly tried to downplay the hawkish elements and stressed that their decision to hike rates was not based on the economy doing really well but rather because they think action was required to push inflation lower. With STIR markets pricing in close to 6 hikes for the BoE for the rest of the year, any further dovish push back from the bank during the hearing can see some of that froth priced out and can weigh on Sterling and gilt yields. We’ll be looking for any specific mention and push back against the current market implied rate path, and also for any potential clarity regarding the balance sheet with Chief Economist Pill recently saying the option to start selling gilts outright (QT) is not a done deal and is still a point of consideration. Thus, given the tone used at the presser as well as recent comments from the likes of Pill means there is downside risk for GBP going into the hearing.
JPY
FUDNAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH
1. Monetary Policy
No surprises from the BoJ at their Jan meeting. Despite some source reports which surprisingly suggested that the bank was starting to debate how soon a rate increase can be signalled, Governor Kuroda put that speculation to rest by stressing that the BoJ is not considering any hikes or tweaks to the current policy easing. The bank noted that risks to the inflation outlook are roughly balanced but risks to growth outlook is skewed to the downside. The Governor didn’t comment on specific FX levels, but said the current weak JPY is not bad for the economy. He also explained that it is not appropriate to stop the temporary inflation increases they are seeing by using monetary policy and that it’s too early to debate an exit from their current policy stance. The bank said that Japan will continue its expansive monetary policy unlike other G7s, and they are actively monitoring the economic impact from COVID-19 and won’t hesitate to add easing if necessary.
2. Safe-haven status and overall risk outlook
As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver. Economic data rarely proves market moving, and although monetary policy expectations can be 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 ongoing monetary and fiscal policy support paved the way for markets to expect a robust global economic recovery. However, as the Fed and other banks start to normalize, we do need to remember that it means those fiscal and monetary policy support are being reduced, which could mean a lot more volatility for markets in the weeks and months ahead. Even though that doesn’t mean our med-term bias for the JPY has changed, it simply means that we should expect more risk sentiment ebbs and flows this year, and the heightened volatility can create some fantastic directional moves in the JPY, as long as yields play their part.
3. Low-yielding currency with inverse correlation to US10Y
As a low yielding currency, the JPY usually shares a strong inverse correlation to 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 isn’t perfect and will ebb and flow depending on the type of market environment from both a risk and cycle point of view. With the Fed tilting more aggressive, we think that opens up more room for curve flattening to take place with US02Y likely pushing higher while US10Y underperform. In this environment we do see some mild upside risks for the JPY, but we should not look at the influence from yields in isolation and weigh it up alongside underlying risk sentiment and price action in the USD of course.
4. CFTC Analysis
Even though the JPY’s med-term outlook remains bearish, the big net-shorts for both large specs and leveraged funds always increases odds of punchy mean reversion when risk sentiment deteriorates. Thus, equities & US10Y will remain very important drivers for the JPY in the weeks ahead.
5. The Week Ahead
In the week ahead, we once again expect one of the biggest influences for the JPY to be on geopolitics, with further escalations in tensions between Russia and Ukraine expected to see safe haven inflows into the JPY, and any de-escalations expected to see safe haven outflows from the JPY. Apart from risk sentiment, we’ll also be keeping a close eye on US10Y. With risk sentiment still shaky, and prospects of the economy being unscathed by the Fed’s hawkish plans looking slim right now, we still expect long-end yields to push lower in the weeks ahead, and if that happens it should prove supportive for the JPY (of course keeping equities in mind as well as downside in yields but upside in equities would see both a push and pull effect on the JPY).