GBP
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: WEAK BEARISH
1. Monetary Policy
At their May meeting, the BoE delivered on expectations by raising the bank rate by 25bsp to 1.0%. There was an initial hawkish surprise as the vote split was 9-0 (no dissent from Cunliffe) and 3 of the 9 MPC members voted for a 50bsp move at the meeting. However, the hawkish reaction soon faded as it was also revealed that 2 of the 6 members who voted for a hike thought that this marked the end of the current hiking cycle. The dovishness didn’t stop there though as the BoE revised up their forecasts for peak inflation to >10% which added to the stagflation fears as the bank also saw possible GDP contraction in 2023. Furthermore, the bank took their first real stab at overly aggressive STIR pricing for the 2022 rate path by saying the current path would imply a big undershoot of their 2% inflation target in 2023 and was later backed up by Governor Bailey who said even though he thought rates should continue to rise he didn’t agree with those who think the MPC should be raising interest rates by a lot more. As the bank rate was raised to 1.0%, the markets expected some clarity from the bank on their plans to reduce the balance sheet. However, the bank decided to play for more time and said the bank will provide an update on their plans at the August meeting, pushing back expectations of active QT from Q2 to Q3. As a result of the overall dovish tone, Sterling fell to its lowest levels since 1Q21. The meeting confirmed market calls that the bank would look to hold rates steady after reaching 1.50%.
2. Economic – Health – Geopolitics
With inflation the main reason for the BoE’s recent rate hikes, there is a concern that the UK economy faces considerable stagflation risk, as price pressuresstay sticky while growth decelerates. Looking at growth forecasts, the pace of the expected slowdown in the UK compared to other major economies portrays a pretty bleak picture. That means current rate expectations continues to look too aggressive, even after the BoE’s recent dovish tilt. This means downside risks for GBP if growth data push lower and/or the BoE continue to push their recent dovish tone. Political uncertainty is usually also a GBP negative, so the PM’s future remains a risk. If distrust grows the question remains whether a no-confidence vote can happen (if so, short-term downside is likely), and whether he can survive the vote (a win should be GBP positive and a loss GBP negative). Reports over the weekend suggest that a no-confidence vote can happen as early as the upcoming week so that will be a focus point for GBP. The Northern Ireland protocol remains a focus, with previous UK threats to trigger Article 16 and EU threats to terminate the Brexit deal if they do. Markets have rightly ignored this as posturing, but any actual escalation can see sharp GBP downside
3. CFTC Analysis
A fairly bullish signal for GBP as all three participant categories saw net-long weekly changes. Aggregate positioning is still below 1 standard dev from the 15-year mean. Even though the outlook for Sterling shifted to weak bearish from neutral, positioning looks stretched and means we are not too excited to chase the Pound lower from here.
4. The Week Ahead
With a very light economic data schedule for the week ahead, the more pressing matter for the GBP will probably fall to politics where reports over the weekend suggest that the PM could face a vote of no-confidence as soon as the upcoming week. As noted above, political uncertainty is usually a negative input for Sterling, but the concerns about a no-confidence vote is something that markets have been contemplating for some time already. That means, unless a vote is actually confirmed we are not expecting much downside for Sterling. If a vote is confirmed, it is likely to weigh on the currency, but the focus after that will soon turn to whether the PM has enough support within his party to survive such a vote. If the markets think the PM has a high likelihood of succeeding, the vote could end up being a positive driver for Sterling instead of a negative one. Thus, we won’t be jumping into fresh GBP shorts if a vote is confirmed, we’ll be waiting for the outcome and would prefer some possible short-term upside trades on good news given how stretched positioning looks for Sterling right now.
USD
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: WEAK BULLISH
1. Monetary Policy
In May the Fed delivered on hawkish expectations by hiking the Fed Funds Rate by 50bsp and also confirmed that the committee expects further 50bsp hikes to be appropriate. The fed also stuck to a familiar hawkish tone by downplaying the prospects of an imminent recession by explaining that even though the economy contracted in Q1, that household spending and business investment remained strong. The Chair also stuck to their guns regarding the rate path by suggesting that they think reaching neutral (currently estimated at 2.4%) before year-end would be appropriate and will assess the need for further hikes when they get there. There were however some less hawkish elements which saw a very classic ‘sell-the-fact’ reaction in major asset classes. The first one was on the Quantitative Tightening front where the bank decided on a phased approach for balance sheet reduction by starting the monthly caps at 30bn (treasuries) and 17.5bn ( MBS ) and pushing it up to the expected $60bn (treasuries) and $35bn ( MBS ) over a three-month timeframe. The second less hawkish element was comments from Chair Powell who took 75bsp hikes off the table saying the committee was not actively considering rate moves of that size. Interestingly, it seems STIR markets did not really believe the Fed as the probability of a 75bsp hike stood at >70% directly following the presser. All-in-all, the meeting provided a short-term ‘sell-the-fact’ opportunity, but also cemented the view that despite signs of a slowing economy and despite clear stress in financial markets, the Fed is sticking to their aggressive tightening for now.
2. Global & Domestic Economy
The USD’s global usage means it’s usually inversely correlated to the global economy and global trade. The USD usually appreciates when growth & inflation slows (disinflation) and depreciates when growth & inflation accelerates (reflation). Expectations of a cyclical slowdown have been USD positive. However, we think a lot of the growth concerns might be reflected in recent USD appreciation already. Furthermore, the USD has not been responding positively to bad data like we’ve seen from the start of the year. More recently we’ve seen the USD depreciate on bad data which could suggest that the USD’s driver has temporarily shifted away from the growth focus and shifted towards a Fed focus as the worse the incoming data becomes the higher the likelihood of a less aggressive Fed in the months ahead. Incoming data will be watched closely in relation to the infamous ‘Fed Put’. If growth data slows but not enough to stop the Fed’s hawkish path it’s USD positive, but if the data cause a Fed pivot that’ll be a big negative for the USD.
3. CFTC Analysis
An overall bearish positioning change across major participant categories last week. Aggregate USD positioning remains close to 1 standard deviation above the mean, and close to prior tops where the USD topped out in previous cycles. That means we don’t want to chase the USD higher from here in the short-term.
4. The Week Ahead
We have shifted our bias for the USD from bullish to weak bullish based on the USD’s recent negative reaction to bad US economic data. If this trend persists, we could very likely be changing our fundamental bias for the USD to neutral. In the week ahead the main event in focus for the USD will be the May CPI data. It was clear from the past two CPI prints that we are likely past the peak in YY terms, but the peak is no longer enough to satisfy markets. From here the focus for CPI won’t only be on the declining level but also the pace at which it slows, which means monthly data points are very important as well. That means a lot of focus on how monthly CPI figures are impacted by big fluctuations in things like food, energy, and shelter prices. Both core measures are expected to slow again, while headline YY expected to stay flat, but a big acceleration expected for headline CPI due to recent upside seen in commodity prices. With markets already expecting a further move lower in the core components we will likely need a very significant miss to really ‘surprise’ markets. However, big surprise drops in both headline and core would still be expected to put pressure on the USD and US10Y while offering support for things like Gold and equities.
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: WEAK BEARISH
1. Monetary Policy
At their May meeting, the BoE delivered on expectations by raising the bank rate by 25bsp to 1.0%. There was an initial hawkish surprise as the vote split was 9-0 (no dissent from Cunliffe) and 3 of the 9 MPC members voted for a 50bsp move at the meeting. However, the hawkish reaction soon faded as it was also revealed that 2 of the 6 members who voted for a hike thought that this marked the end of the current hiking cycle. The dovishness didn’t stop there though as the BoE revised up their forecasts for peak inflation to >10% which added to the stagflation fears as the bank also saw possible GDP contraction in 2023. Furthermore, the bank took their first real stab at overly aggressive STIR pricing for the 2022 rate path by saying the current path would imply a big undershoot of their 2% inflation target in 2023 and was later backed up by Governor Bailey who said even though he thought rates should continue to rise he didn’t agree with those who think the MPC should be raising interest rates by a lot more. As the bank rate was raised to 1.0%, the markets expected some clarity from the bank on their plans to reduce the balance sheet. However, the bank decided to play for more time and said the bank will provide an update on their plans at the August meeting, pushing back expectations of active QT from Q2 to Q3. As a result of the overall dovish tone, Sterling fell to its lowest levels since 1Q21. The meeting confirmed market calls that the bank would look to hold rates steady after reaching 1.50%.
2. Economic – Health – Geopolitics
With inflation the main reason for the BoE’s recent rate hikes, there is a concern that the UK economy faces considerable stagflation risk, as price pressuresstay sticky while growth decelerates. Looking at growth forecasts, the pace of the expected slowdown in the UK compared to other major economies portrays a pretty bleak picture. That means current rate expectations continues to look too aggressive, even after the BoE’s recent dovish tilt. This means downside risks for GBP if growth data push lower and/or the BoE continue to push their recent dovish tone. Political uncertainty is usually also a GBP negative, so the PM’s future remains a risk. If distrust grows the question remains whether a no-confidence vote can happen (if so, short-term downside is likely), and whether he can survive the vote (a win should be GBP positive and a loss GBP negative). Reports over the weekend suggest that a no-confidence vote can happen as early as the upcoming week so that will be a focus point for GBP. The Northern Ireland protocol remains a focus, with previous UK threats to trigger Article 16 and EU threats to terminate the Brexit deal if they do. Markets have rightly ignored this as posturing, but any actual escalation can see sharp GBP downside
3. CFTC Analysis
A fairly bullish signal for GBP as all three participant categories saw net-long weekly changes. Aggregate positioning is still below 1 standard dev from the 15-year mean. Even though the outlook for Sterling shifted to weak bearish from neutral, positioning looks stretched and means we are not too excited to chase the Pound lower from here.
4. The Week Ahead
With a very light economic data schedule for the week ahead, the more pressing matter for the GBP will probably fall to politics where reports over the weekend suggest that the PM could face a vote of no-confidence as soon as the upcoming week. As noted above, political uncertainty is usually a negative input for Sterling, but the concerns about a no-confidence vote is something that markets have been contemplating for some time already. That means, unless a vote is actually confirmed we are not expecting much downside for Sterling. If a vote is confirmed, it is likely to weigh on the currency, but the focus after that will soon turn to whether the PM has enough support within his party to survive such a vote. If the markets think the PM has a high likelihood of succeeding, the vote could end up being a positive driver for Sterling instead of a negative one. Thus, we won’t be jumping into fresh GBP shorts if a vote is confirmed, we’ll be waiting for the outcome and would prefer some possible short-term upside trades on good news given how stretched positioning looks for Sterling right now.
USD
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: WEAK BULLISH
1. Monetary Policy
In May the Fed delivered on hawkish expectations by hiking the Fed Funds Rate by 50bsp and also confirmed that the committee expects further 50bsp hikes to be appropriate. The fed also stuck to a familiar hawkish tone by downplaying the prospects of an imminent recession by explaining that even though the economy contracted in Q1, that household spending and business investment remained strong. The Chair also stuck to their guns regarding the rate path by suggesting that they think reaching neutral (currently estimated at 2.4%) before year-end would be appropriate and will assess the need for further hikes when they get there. There were however some less hawkish elements which saw a very classic ‘sell-the-fact’ reaction in major asset classes. The first one was on the Quantitative Tightening front where the bank decided on a phased approach for balance sheet reduction by starting the monthly caps at 30bn (treasuries) and 17.5bn ( MBS ) and pushing it up to the expected $60bn (treasuries) and $35bn ( MBS ) over a three-month timeframe. The second less hawkish element was comments from Chair Powell who took 75bsp hikes off the table saying the committee was not actively considering rate moves of that size. Interestingly, it seems STIR markets did not really believe the Fed as the probability of a 75bsp hike stood at >70% directly following the presser. All-in-all, the meeting provided a short-term ‘sell-the-fact’ opportunity, but also cemented the view that despite signs of a slowing economy and despite clear stress in financial markets, the Fed is sticking to their aggressive tightening for now.
2. Global & Domestic Economy
The USD’s global usage means it’s usually inversely correlated to the global economy and global trade. The USD usually appreciates when growth & inflation slows (disinflation) and depreciates when growth & inflation accelerates (reflation). Expectations of a cyclical slowdown have been USD positive. However, we think a lot of the growth concerns might be reflected in recent USD appreciation already. Furthermore, the USD has not been responding positively to bad data like we’ve seen from the start of the year. More recently we’ve seen the USD depreciate on bad data which could suggest that the USD’s driver has temporarily shifted away from the growth focus and shifted towards a Fed focus as the worse the incoming data becomes the higher the likelihood of a less aggressive Fed in the months ahead. Incoming data will be watched closely in relation to the infamous ‘Fed Put’. If growth data slows but not enough to stop the Fed’s hawkish path it’s USD positive, but if the data cause a Fed pivot that’ll be a big negative for the USD.
3. CFTC Analysis
An overall bearish positioning change across major participant categories last week. Aggregate USD positioning remains close to 1 standard deviation above the mean, and close to prior tops where the USD topped out in previous cycles. That means we don’t want to chase the USD higher from here in the short-term.
4. The Week Ahead
We have shifted our bias for the USD from bullish to weak bullish based on the USD’s recent negative reaction to bad US economic data. If this trend persists, we could very likely be changing our fundamental bias for the USD to neutral. In the week ahead the main event in focus for the USD will be the May CPI data. It was clear from the past two CPI prints that we are likely past the peak in YY terms, but the peak is no longer enough to satisfy markets. From here the focus for CPI won’t only be on the declining level but also the pace at which it slows, which means monthly data points are very important as well. That means a lot of focus on how monthly CPI figures are impacted by big fluctuations in things like food, energy, and shelter prices. Both core measures are expected to slow again, while headline YY expected to stay flat, but a big acceleration expected for headline CPI due to recent upside seen in commodity prices. With markets already expecting a further move lower in the core components we will likely need a very significant miss to really ‘surprise’ markets. However, big surprise drops in both headline and core would still be expected to put pressure on the USD and US10Y while offering support for things like Gold and equities.