GBP
FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK: WEAK BEARISH
BASELINE
The overall bleak economic outlook for the UK, with exceptionally high Inflation and rapidly falling growth have been the biggest negative driver for Sterling. With rising price pressures and falling demand, the risks of stagflation has risen substantially, so much so that the BoE have forecasted a possible recession for the UK economy heading into 2023. At their June meeting the bank followed through with their more moderate approach by hiking 25bsp instead of growing calls of a potential 50bsp hike. The BoE is stuck between a rock and a hard place, right now they have to hike rates to try and fight inflation but by doing so they risk further damaging economic growth as a result. Even though the June statement was dovish, it wasn’t materially more dovish compared to their previous meeting. The price action was a clear warning sign that a lot of negatives has been priced in for Sterling in recent weeks so chasing lower is very risky right now.
POSSIBLE BULLISH SURPRISES
Stagflation fears are very high for the UK, with probabilities of recession growing by the week. With so much bad news priced in, incoming news risk is asymmetrical, meaning positive surprises in growth data could trigger strong bullish reactions. The UK is facing a huge cost-of-living squeeze, which means lower-than-expected inflation could counterintuitively be a positive driver (as lower CPI means less stagflation risk). The economy needs help right now, which means any help from the fiscal side will be a positive. Any major fiscal support measures to help consumers (subsidies for energy or tax cuts) could trigger bullish reactions for the Pound. Any overly hawkish comments signalling more aggressive policy than what markets are currently pricing in could trigger bullish reactions.
POSSIBLE BEARISH SURPRISES
Odds that the BoE has limited hikes left has been a negative driver, but so too is risks that inflation forces them to hike even more and further damage GDP. Further stagflation risks from higher gas prices or CPI could trigger bearish reactions. Politicsremain a focus, where any attempts by a new PM in the weeks or months ahead to call for a snap election should cause unnecessary uncertainty and could trigger GBP downside. With UK threats of triggering Article 16 and EU threats to terminate the Brexit deal if they do Brexit is in focus again. For now, markets have rightly ignored this as posturing, but any actual escalation can see sharp GBP downside. Any overly dovish comments signalling less aggressive policy than what markets are currently pricing in (see Rate Tracker for STIR expectations) could trigger bearish GBP reactions.
BIGGER PICTURE
The fundamental outlook for the GBP remains fairly bleak right now with the economic prospects and risk of stagflation keeping the currency pressured, alongside expectations that the BoE might not be too far away from pausing their hiking cycle. Anything that exacerbates stagflation fears is expected to weigh on the Pound and anything that alleviates some of that pressure should be positive. Sterling has been looking stretched to the downside, so any new shorts do need to be weary of the risk of some mean reversion, and also means the risk to reward favours short-term upside on strong bullish catalysts.
USD
FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK: BULLISH
BASELINE
Hawkish Fed policy remains a key driver for Dollar strength. With headline inflation >9%, the Fed has been pressured to tighten policy aggressively, hiking rates by 75bsp at their June meeting, and continuing with Quantitative Tightening. However, as a result of increasing fears of a growth slowdown (as evidenced by recent econ data), STIR markets have repriced lower, and now expects a terminal rate of 3.5% (versus >4% before the June FOMC meeting). Even though lower STIR pricing should be negative for the USD, the growth concerns has sparked further risk off concerns and have seen safe haven flows into the USD. The USD is usually inversely correlated to the global economy and trade, appreciating when growth & inflation slows and depreciates when growth & inflation accelerates. Further expectations of a cyclical slowdown and continued tight monetary policy expectations has seen investors shun risk assets and even bonds (usually considered a safe haven), and the USD has been a key benefactor of the rush to safety in recent weeks. The current high inflation has meant that bonds have not been sought as a safe haven with a strong stock-to-bond correlation, and this has caused big bond outflows. With bonds not fulfilling its usual save haven role the USD has been the haven of choice. The bias remains bullish , but with stretched tactical and CFTC positioning we don’t want to chase the USD higher right now.
POSSIBLE BULLISH SURPRISES
As aggressive Fed policy has been supporting the USD, any incoming data that sparks further aggressive hike expectations, or comments from the FOMC that signals even more aggressive policy could trigger bullish reactions. As the cyclical outlook continues to weaken, the USD’s safe haven status matters. Any incoming data that exacerbates fears of recession and triggers a big flush in risk assets and triggers a rush to safety should be positive for the USD. Further outflows in US bonds means more USD safe haven appeal. So, watching key triggers for further upside in bond yields like rising commodity prices, rising inflation expectations and upside surprises in inflation data could also trigger further USD bullish reactions.
POSSIBLE BEARISH SURPRISES
Even though the USD has been trading like a safe haven, the worse growth data continues to get, the higher the likelihood of a ‘Fed Put’ in the months ahead. Thus, extremely bad growth data could trigger short-term bearish reactions in the USD. The USD is trading close to cycle highs while aggregate CFTC positioning is close to prior highs which acted as local tops. Thus, stretched positioning could make the USD vulnerable to short-term mean reversion, but finding strong enough bearish catalysts has been tricky recently. With a lot already priced for the Fed, it won’t take much to disappoint on the dovish side. Any FOMC comments that suggests more concern about the economy than inflation could trigger bearish reactions in the USD, but with inflation so high any major dovish pivots seem unlikely for now.
BIGGER PICTURE
The fundamental outlook for the USD remains bullish as long as the Fed stays aggressive and cyclical concerns put pressure on risk assets. But we want to be mindful that lots has been priced for the USD, and as growth deteriorates, it could start to weigh on the USD if markets start pricing in a ‘Fed Put’, even though current inflation suggests any dovish pivot seems a while away. Also, as the safe haven of choice any further recession focused downside in risk assets could continue to prove supportive for the USD. In the short-term though, with positioning in mind, we prefer much deeper pullbacks for new med-term USD longs and would look for short-term catalysts that offer short-term bearish sentiment-based trades.
FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK: WEAK BEARISH
BASELINE
The overall bleak economic outlook for the UK, with exceptionally high Inflation and rapidly falling growth have been the biggest negative driver for Sterling. With rising price pressures and falling demand, the risks of stagflation has risen substantially, so much so that the BoE have forecasted a possible recession for the UK economy heading into 2023. At their June meeting the bank followed through with their more moderate approach by hiking 25bsp instead of growing calls of a potential 50bsp hike. The BoE is stuck between a rock and a hard place, right now they have to hike rates to try and fight inflation but by doing so they risk further damaging economic growth as a result. Even though the June statement was dovish, it wasn’t materially more dovish compared to their previous meeting. The price action was a clear warning sign that a lot of negatives has been priced in for Sterling in recent weeks so chasing lower is very risky right now.
POSSIBLE BULLISH SURPRISES
Stagflation fears are very high for the UK, with probabilities of recession growing by the week. With so much bad news priced in, incoming news risk is asymmetrical, meaning positive surprises in growth data could trigger strong bullish reactions. The UK is facing a huge cost-of-living squeeze, which means lower-than-expected inflation could counterintuitively be a positive driver (as lower CPI means less stagflation risk). The economy needs help right now, which means any help from the fiscal side will be a positive. Any major fiscal support measures to help consumers (subsidies for energy or tax cuts) could trigger bullish reactions for the Pound. Any overly hawkish comments signalling more aggressive policy than what markets are currently pricing in could trigger bullish reactions.
POSSIBLE BEARISH SURPRISES
Odds that the BoE has limited hikes left has been a negative driver, but so too is risks that inflation forces them to hike even more and further damage GDP. Further stagflation risks from higher gas prices or CPI could trigger bearish reactions. Politicsremain a focus, where any attempts by a new PM in the weeks or months ahead to call for a snap election should cause unnecessary uncertainty and could trigger GBP downside. With UK threats of triggering Article 16 and EU threats to terminate the Brexit deal if they do Brexit is in focus again. For now, markets have rightly ignored this as posturing, but any actual escalation can see sharp GBP downside. Any overly dovish comments signalling less aggressive policy than what markets are currently pricing in (see Rate Tracker for STIR expectations) could trigger bearish GBP reactions.
BIGGER PICTURE
The fundamental outlook for the GBP remains fairly bleak right now with the economic prospects and risk of stagflation keeping the currency pressured, alongside expectations that the BoE might not be too far away from pausing their hiking cycle. Anything that exacerbates stagflation fears is expected to weigh on the Pound and anything that alleviates some of that pressure should be positive. Sterling has been looking stretched to the downside, so any new shorts do need to be weary of the risk of some mean reversion, and also means the risk to reward favours short-term upside on strong bullish catalysts.
USD
FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK: BULLISH
BASELINE
Hawkish Fed policy remains a key driver for Dollar strength. With headline inflation >9%, the Fed has been pressured to tighten policy aggressively, hiking rates by 75bsp at their June meeting, and continuing with Quantitative Tightening. However, as a result of increasing fears of a growth slowdown (as evidenced by recent econ data), STIR markets have repriced lower, and now expects a terminal rate of 3.5% (versus >4% before the June FOMC meeting). Even though lower STIR pricing should be negative for the USD, the growth concerns has sparked further risk off concerns and have seen safe haven flows into the USD. The USD is usually inversely correlated to the global economy and trade, appreciating when growth & inflation slows and depreciates when growth & inflation accelerates. Further expectations of a cyclical slowdown and continued tight monetary policy expectations has seen investors shun risk assets and even bonds (usually considered a safe haven), and the USD has been a key benefactor of the rush to safety in recent weeks. The current high inflation has meant that bonds have not been sought as a safe haven with a strong stock-to-bond correlation, and this has caused big bond outflows. With bonds not fulfilling its usual save haven role the USD has been the haven of choice. The bias remains bullish , but with stretched tactical and CFTC positioning we don’t want to chase the USD higher right now.
POSSIBLE BULLISH SURPRISES
As aggressive Fed policy has been supporting the USD, any incoming data that sparks further aggressive hike expectations, or comments from the FOMC that signals even more aggressive policy could trigger bullish reactions. As the cyclical outlook continues to weaken, the USD’s safe haven status matters. Any incoming data that exacerbates fears of recession and triggers a big flush in risk assets and triggers a rush to safety should be positive for the USD. Further outflows in US bonds means more USD safe haven appeal. So, watching key triggers for further upside in bond yields like rising commodity prices, rising inflation expectations and upside surprises in inflation data could also trigger further USD bullish reactions.
POSSIBLE BEARISH SURPRISES
Even though the USD has been trading like a safe haven, the worse growth data continues to get, the higher the likelihood of a ‘Fed Put’ in the months ahead. Thus, extremely bad growth data could trigger short-term bearish reactions in the USD. The USD is trading close to cycle highs while aggregate CFTC positioning is close to prior highs which acted as local tops. Thus, stretched positioning could make the USD vulnerable to short-term mean reversion, but finding strong enough bearish catalysts has been tricky recently. With a lot already priced for the Fed, it won’t take much to disappoint on the dovish side. Any FOMC comments that suggests more concern about the economy than inflation could trigger bearish reactions in the USD, but with inflation so high any major dovish pivots seem unlikely for now.
BIGGER PICTURE
The fundamental outlook for the USD remains bullish as long as the Fed stays aggressive and cyclical concerns put pressure on risk assets. But we want to be mindful that lots has been priced for the USD, and as growth deteriorates, it could start to weigh on the USD if markets start pricing in a ‘Fed Put’, even though current inflation suggests any dovish pivot seems a while away. Also, as the safe haven of choice any further recession focused downside in risk assets could continue to prove supportive for the USD. In the short-term though, with positioning in mind, we prefer much deeper pullbacks for new med-term USD longs and would look for short-term catalysts that offer short-term bearish sentiment-based trades.