pro-cyclical currencies

FX Daily: Trading the 50-50 risk Despite the very strong headline US May payroll figure, rising unemployment and declining wage inflation are keeping markets from fully pricing in a June Fed hike (we expect a hold). Barring a big ISM services surprise today, the lack of other key inputs before next week’s CPI could keep the dollar capped. The RBA decision tomorrow is also a 50-50 decision     USD: Not enough to price in a June hike The blowout May headline payroll number added fuel to the narrative of an extra tight US labour market, but the coincidental rebound in unemployment to 3.7% and slowdown in wage growth kept markets from going all-in on a June rate hike by the Federal Reserve. As discussed in this note by our US economist, payrolls and the unemployment rate are calculated through different surveys: the former by employers, and the latter by households. In practice, firms and households conveyed very different messages about the direction of the US labour market in May.   We think that, when adding the cooling off in wage inflation, and considering the diverging views within the FOMC, the case for a pause at the 14 June meeting should prevail. The last big risk event before the rate announcement is the 13 June CPI reading, while today’s ISM services figures (the consensus expects a mild improvement) might have a somewhat contained impact on rate expectations, barring major diversions from expectations. The FOMC has already entered the black-out period.   Markets are currently pricing in a 25-30% implied probability of a hike in June, while 21bp are factored in by the end-July meeting. We suspect that the pricing may not vary considerably, or that the narrative of a “50-50” chance of a hike in June may prevail until the CPI numbers next Tuesday – and barring a surprise there – into the FOMC announcement itself.   With markets not having received enough compelling evidence from the May jobs report to price in more than a 50% probability of a June hike, we feel that two-year USD swap rates, which rebounded to 4.73% after having declined to 4.51% on Friday, may struggle to find much more support this week.   Add in a period of potential market sentiment stabilisation now that the debt-ceiling saga has ended and we think the dollar's bullish momentum may dwindle into the FOMC meeting.   We see a higher chance of DXY stabilising around 104.00 or pulling back to 103.00. Some pro-cyclical currencies could emerge as outperformers in this period: the Canadian dollar, for example, may stay supported now that Saudi Arabia announced another one million barrels a day of oil production cuts and even if the Bank of Canada stays on hold on Wednesday, as long as it keeps the door open for a potential hike down the road.    

CAD: Our call is a BoC hawkish hold today The Bank of Canada moved considerably earlier than other central banks to the dovish side of the spectrum and has kept rates on hold since January. Now, stubborn inflation, an ultra-tight labour market and a more benign growth backdrop are building the case for a return to monetary tightening. Markets are attaching a 45% implied probability that a 25bp hike will be delivered today.   While admitting it’s a rather close call, we think a hawkish hold is more likely (here's our full meeting preview), as policymakers may want to err on the side of caution while assessing the lagged effect of monetary tightening. We still expect a return to 2% inflation in Canada in the early part of 2024 with the help of softer commodity prices. Developments in the US also play a rather important role for the BoC: recent jitters in the US economic outlook (ISM reports recently added to recession fears) and the proximity to a “toss-up” FOMC meeting would also warrant an extension of the pause.   Still, we expect another hold by the BoC to be accompanied by hawkish language. Markets are pricing in 40bp of tightening by the end of the summer, and we doubt policymakers have an interest in pushing back or significantly disappointing the market’s hawkish expectations given recent data. So, as long as a hold contains enough hints at potential future tightening, we think the negative impact on CAD should be short-lived and we keep favouring the loonie against other pro-cyclical currencies in the current risk environment.

EUR: 1.1275 is the next target for EUR/USD Soft US inflation data has been good news for all the pro-cyclical currencies including the euro. EUR/USD is comfortably trading at new highs for the year and the next technical target would be 1.1275 as it continues to retrace the 2021-2022 decline. For today, look out for the account of the 15 June European Central Bank meeting. Presumably, the ECB will see no advantage in trying to diffuse market pricing of two further 25bp rate hikes this year. Elsewhere, we note EUR/CHF breaking down to some new lows. We would not chase this too much lower since the Swiss National Bank will be getting a lot of their desired appreciation in the nominal trade-weighted Swiss franc from the big move lower in USD/CHF.

FX Talking: The dollar’s break point The first real signs of US disinflation this year have sent the dollar lower. We should now begin seeing a series of lower US inflation prints, which will support the soft-landing narrative and deliver the kind of cyclical dollar decline we have been expecting. This should be a better environment for pro-cyclical currencies, helping EUR/USD towards 1.15It has been a long time coming, but this month’s release of US June inflation data might actually be the point at which the dollar breaks lower. Like many, we had been looking for a cyclical drop in the dollar in the second half of 2023. Now some strong evidence of US disinflation might just be the catalyst for this important market adjustment. Within the G10 space, the biggest beneficiaries of the softer US price data have been the unloved Scandinavian currencies which had been the biggest victims of hard landing fears. What could now be the start of some sizable bullish steepening in the US yield curve will help the pro-cyclical currencies on the view that peak rates are close at hand. Our team looks for one last rate hike from the Federal Reserve and two further hikes from the European Central Bank. This should allow EUR/USD to better connect with its fundamentals, although we doubt that the rally will be as quick as the one seen last November-December. However, EUR/USD now has a clear bias towards 1.15 over the coming months and quarters. Elsewhere in G10, the Bank of Japan probably needs to normalise policy further to get USD/JPY trading well under 135 – but that certainly looks to be the direction of travel. Sterling may temporarily hold gains until UK price data softens – potentially in the fourth quarter. And the Swiss National Bank will continue to manage the trade-weighted Swiss franc stronger. Within EM, CE4 FX might struggle to rally substantially further against the euro and weak Chinese growth is proving a headwind. Yet, the EM asset class may now enjoy the strongest portfolio inflows since late 2020 and Latin currencies can continue to perform well given relatively large weightings in key benchmarks.  

FX Daily: How much more fuel in the disinflation tank? Last week’s US disinflation shock altered the FX landscape, but a few days without key data releases will tell us whether that impulse can keep the dollar on the back foot as the FOMC risk event draws nearer. EUR/USD appears a bit overstretched in the short term and could face a correction this week.   USD: Some caveats to the bearish narrative On Friday, we published FX Talking: The dollar’s break point, where we discuss our updated views on G10 and EM currencies and present our latest forecasts. The radical shift in the FX positioning picture since the US CPI and PPI releases last week now forces a reassessment of the dollar outlook. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data on speculative positioning offers little help in understanding how much dollar positioning has changed since the latest reported positions were as of Tuesday, before the inflation report. Back then, the weighted aggregate positioning against reported G9 currencies (i.e., G10 excluding SEK and NOK) had already inched into net-short territory (-2% of open interest, in our calculations). When making the parallel with the November-December 2022 dollar decline, positioning shows a key difference. At the end of October 2022, markets were still speculatively long on the dollar (around 10% of open interest against CFTC-reported G9). Another important factor – especially for EUR/USD – is the degree to which other central banks outside of the US can still surprise on the hawkish side, which is significantly lower than it was last autumn. These caveats to the rather compelling bearish dollar story mean that it may not be one-way traffic from here in FX, even if we see the dollar weaken further into year-end. On the fundamental side, the disinflation story puts risk assets on a sweet spot, favours a re-steepening of the US yield curve and should make pro-cyclical currencies more attractive. However, the Federal Reserve may not turn into a USD-negative that swiftly. Our US economist still sees a 25bp hike next week as likely. It is fully priced in, but will the Fed be ready to throw the towel on more hikes just yet? Core inflation is declining, but the jobs market remains very tight and other economic indicators remain resilient. The dot plot is still showing another hike before a peak and Fed Chair Jerome Powell may prefer to err on the hawkish side, especially through a rate cut pushback (first cut priced in for the first quarter of 2024). This week will be interesting to watch since the lack of tier-one data in the US will offer a clue on how FX markets will trade from now on; the question is whether investors now see enough reasons to add short positions on the dollar ahead of the FOMC or take a more cautious approach. The latter – which appears marginally more likely in our eyes – may see the dollar reclaim some portions of recent losses. DXY could find some support after climbing back above 100.00.

EUR: Surprisingly resilient After a week that has brought to the table some serious concerns about China’s near and medium-term outlook, it is quite a success for EUR/USD to be trading around 1.0900. The pair is not just exposed to Chinese sentiment via the risk-environment channel, but more directly given the eurozone’s economic exposure to China. The question now remains: will the Chinese story catch up with the euro? For now, it really appears that markets are welcoming Beijing’s forceful reaction, although much will probably depend on the developments in the distressed shadow bank Zhongzhi and the actual depth of the real estate slump. All in all, it does look like there is a path for the euro and other pro-cyclical currencies to weather this Chinese turmoil without taking much damage, but that also means a delay in any substantial rally against the dollar. Data-wise, we’ll take a look at the final inflation figures in the eurozone today. Markets are currently pricing in a 50% implied probability of a European Central Bank (ECB) rate hike in September, and have marginally scaled back expectations along the curve in the past few days. A full rate hike is not priced before the end of the year, which probably leaves some upside room for short-term rates in the eurozone should ECB officials come back after the summer holidays with some hawkish comments. EUR/USD may keep trading in narrow ranges for now, with a modestly bearish bias to the 1.0850 level.  

FX Daily: Eurozone inflation, round one Spain and Germany will release inflation figures today, and market expectations for the ECB's September meeting may already be impacted. Eurozone numbers are out tomorrow. Meanwhile, ADP payrolls are out in the US after a soft batch of data hit the dollar yesterday, while AUD is shrugging off lower-than-expected CPI figures.   USD: ADP could be inaccurate, but may move the market Two softer-than-expected data releases in the US yesterday prompted a sizeable correction in the USD 2-year swap rate yields, which fell from 4.94% to the 4.80% area. JOLTS job openings data fell to 8.8 million in July, meaning there were approximately 1.5 open positions for each unemployed worker – the lowest ratio since September 2021. The hiring rate declined marginally, but the layoff rate was unchanged. Consumer confidence figures also disappointed, with the Conference Board survey dropping from a revised 114 level in July to 106 in August. Other components of the survey also declined. The rally in pro-cyclical currencies and the dollar’s weakness across the board was a confirmation of how US activity data – even if non tier-one releases – remain firmly in the driver's seat for global currency markets. Developments in China and in the commodity sphere, while important, clearly continue to play a secondary role. Today, expect markets to focus on the ADP employment figures. These have not proven to be a very accurate estimator of the official payrolls recently but have often impacted rate expectations. The consensus is for a 195k print. Wholesale inventories and pending home sales for July, as well as the GDP and core PCE secondary release for the second quarter, are also on the calendar today. The dollar is regaining some ground this morning after yesterday’s losses, but data will determine the direction of travel today. We had called for a weaker dollar at the start of this week and we’d like to see whether eurozone inflation data boost the chances of one last hike from the European Central Bank. With markets being more convinced of no more hikes by the Federal Reserve – barring a surprise in payrolls – a re-tightening in the EUR/USD short-term real rate gap could set the tone for a weaker dollar across the world. DXY may continue its correction from the 104.00 highs and test 103.00 should eurozone inflation figures come in strong enough and US employment not surprise on the upside. 

Swedish economic and FX update: Pessimism reality check Sweden is facing some rather severe economic headwinds, and recent evidence of negative growth paired with lingering concerns about a fragile real estate sector have contributed towards keeping the Swedish krona under pressure. From some angles, however, investors may be overestimating the downside risks to Sweden’s activity outlook. In this bundle, we take a deeper look into the country’s economy and how we're expecting the Riksbank to respond. On the FX side, the krona is trading at all-time lows. We suspect that more pain may be on the cards in the near term as the environment for pro-cyclical currencies remains challenging. EUR/SEK may touch or even break 12.00 soon, but the Riksbank will likely play a key role in halting the rally. Looking ahead, we expect a SEK rebound. The question is more timing than direction since the krona is very undervalued. External, more than domestic drivers, hold the key to that rebound.

Swedish krona still searching for the bottom, but the Riksbank can help EUR/SEK is close to the 12.00 level, trading at historic highs as external and domestic factors have added pressure to the already weak krona. In the medium term, we have few doubts SEK can recover and converge with higher fair value, but the timing is highly uncertain, and will be more dependent on the global market environment than on Sweden’s economic woes.   Why it’s still hard to pick the bottom for the krona Back in May, we published a note entitled “Sweden: Hard to pick a bottom for the unloved krona”. More than three months later, it is still hard to pinpoint an end to the EUR/SEK rally, and the key drivers behind the strength in the pair have not changed materially. Back then, the Riksbank had just lifted the cap on the pair with a dovish surprise, and while it later attempted to restore a currency-supportive hawkish stance, markets have continued to price a good deal of domestic downside risk into SEK. In the broader FX picture, pro-cyclical currencies like SEK are primarily responding to US data at the current juncture: the recent resilience in activity indicators has kept market expectations for Fed easing capped, global rates elevated, the dollar strong and high-beta currencies under pressure. Remember how NOK and SEK emerged as the two biggest underperformers during the core of the Fed tightening cycle? As the higher-for-longer narrative in the US consolidates, investors are once again turning their backs on the illiquid Scandinavian currencies. And with Sweden facing domestic headwinds and the eurozone’s economic outlook deteriorating, EUR/SEK is trading at fresh highs, and at risk of touching the 12.00 pain level.         The Riksbank can cap krona weakness The chart below shows the risk premium (orange line) that has been built in for the krona (against the euro) since the start of the year. That tells us how much higher EUR/SEK is trading compared to what we estimate is its fair value according to market drivers (like rates and equities).       Despite perceived real estate concerns building steadily into the end of April, EUR/SEK traded close to its fair value thanks to the Riksbank’s currency-supportive hawkish tone. The shift in narrative at the April meeting (when two members voted against a 50bp hike, and the rate path was more dovish than expected) led to a spike in SEK undervaluation, which lasted for two months. Crucially, the return of a currency-supportive hawkish stance at the Riksbank’s June meeting saw the EUR/SEK mis-valuation drop to zero. The following build-up in the EUR/SEK risk premium was much more short-lived compared to the one in May-June, and primarily a consequence of the bond sell-off in the US.   So, what is this telling us? The Riksbank can still impact the krona substantially. Despite not being able to fully insulate a high-beta currency like SEK from external drivers, it can prevent it from trading below its short-term fair value. To do this, it must meet or exceed market expectations on future rate tightening (i.e. via rate path projections), which has the additional benefit of signalling that the Bank is not so worried about the economic outlook and the risks to financial stability as to overlook its inflation mandate and the need to stabilise the currency. Markets are fully pricing in a 25bp hike in September, with a 50% implied probability of another 25bp hike at the November meeting. The Riksbank will likely have to signal one more hike in its rate path projections to support the krona when it raises rates in September. Our SEK forecast: the question is timing, not direction One aspect of the lingering SEK risk premium is that it has detached from short-term rate dynamics, which had been a key driver until April/May last year. Based on the EUR:SEK two-year swap spread alone, EUR/SEK should be trading around 11.00 (chart below). In the current market conditions that is, obviously, inconceivable.     We continue to base our medium-term forecast on the evidence that the krona is significantly undervalued, both against the euro and the dollar. On the back of this, our forecast profile for EUR/SEK is downward-sloping for 2024, and we expect the pair to trade below 11.00 by next summer. We must admit, however, that the timing of the SEK recovery remains quite uncertain. In our view, this is not excessively dependent on domestic factors; the krona is already pricing in a sizeable amount of weakness in the domestic economy, and markets will either see the most dramatic scenarios for the real estate sector materialise (not our base case) or will have to price them out of the krona next year. Missteps by the Riksbank, if anything, have a higher chance of causing FX damage.   External drivers hold the key to the recovery We think, instead, that SEK’s reconnection with its stronger fundamentals will be driven by the global FX narrative. A strong dollar on the back of higher-for-longer rates in the US is incompatible with a recovery in the krona. The past few months have been a clear testament to this. We expect US activity data to start turning from 4Q23, and the Federal Reserve to start cutting from March 2024, and that is the window when pro-cyclical currencies like SEK can stage a good rebound. However, we admit that the resilience in US economic data could persist for longer than we estimate, and delay as well as reduce the scope of the recovery in pro-cyclical currencies. A further deterioration in the eurozone growth outlook can also make the krona’s recovery harder.   Until a US data/dollar turn occurs, the krona will remain vulnerable, and we only see 12.00 as the really strong resistance level for EUR/SEK. So far, the Riksbank has ruled out FX intervention but might start throwing that idea around to gauge market reaction (the effective applicability remains doubtful) should we break above the 12.00 mark. We see room for a SEK rebound around the Riksbank’s upcoming meeting when we expect the SEK-supportive narrative to prevail and a good chance of another hike to be added to the rate path. EUR/SEK could be easing back to 11.70 by the end of September.

SEK: Still vulnerable in the near term We have published two updates on Sweden for both its economic outlook and the krona’s near and medium-term outlook. The key points of our economic and FX updates are: The Swedish economy is facing significant headwinds, but investors may have overestimated the magnitude of some downside risks, including in the real estate sector The Riksbank should hike rates in September but will need to signal another hike in its rate path to halt the slump in the krona Before the Riksbank meeting, EUR/SEK might test 12.00 as the external environment remains very challenging for pro-cyclical currencies We still expect a rebound in the krona in 2024, but the timing is very uncertain and is tied to a turn in global FX dynamics (i.e., a turn in the dollar) more than in domestic factors

SEK: Riksbank propping krona ? The Swedish krona has been a big outlier since the start of the week, strengthening for two consecutive sessions while all other G10 currencies fell against the dollar. While the positive developments on the SBB saga have likely helped compress the EUR/SEK risk premium, that seems insufficient to justify such outperformance, especially considering the krona’s high beta to risk sentiment, which has been soft. It appears instead that the Riksbank’s start of hedging operations is having a substantial impact on the market. For context, the Riksbank announced last Thursday that it would hedge part (USD 8 billion and EUR 2 billion) of its FX reserves in a risk-management move aimed at reducing losses in the event of a krona appreciation. Unlike other measures of this kind, the Bank did not release a schedule for purchases but only said that the operations would take four to six months, the sales “will be adjusted to market conditions to avoid counteracting the Riksbank's objectives” and weekly sales data will be published with a two-week delay. We saw two sharp drops in USD/SEK and EUR/SEK in the past two sessions shortly after 1000 BST in Monday’s and Tuesday’s session. We’ll be on the lookout today for a similar move around that time today, as that may be a signal that the Riksbank is conducting its daily sales operations around that morning timeslot. The Riksbank stressed this is not FX intervention or a monetary policy tool but mere risk management. The lack of transparency around the amount of weekly sales means the Bank can sell larger amounts at higher USD/SEK and EUR/SEK levels and then justify this as a mere loss-minimisation approach (buying more SEK when it is cheaper). For now, it seems like the wanted or unwanted beneficiary effect on SEK is working. We still point at some upside risks in the near term for USD/SEK and EUR/SEK, especially once markets adjust to the Riksbank being present in the FX market, although now there is definitely value in holding SEK against other high beta pro-cyclical currencies like NOK.

December’s ECB cheat sheet: A reality check for ultra-dovish expectations The ECB will almost surely keep rates on hold at the December meeting. The question is to what extent it will align with the market's aggressive pricing for rate cuts in 2024. We suspect it will fall short of endorsing ultra-dovish expectations. There is some upside room for EUR rates and the battered euro.       Heading into the European Central Bank's December meeting, there is growing evidence that the Governing Council is split about the messaging being presented to markets. The generally arch-hawk Isabel Schnabel dropped strong dovish hints by ruling out rate hikes this week, and markets are now pricing in 135bp of cuts in the next 12 months. We see a good chance that the overall message at this meeting will fall short of endorsing aggressive rate cut expectations. Above are the market implications in various scenarios. Our full ECB preview can be found here. A still-cautious ECB may not validate aggressive front end pricing A reassessment of inflation expectations has been in the lead in driving rates lower and raising the expectations of first rate cuts at the end of the first quarter next year. From next summer onwards, market indications point to anticipated headline inflation fixes below 2%. Indeed, the 2Y inflation swap has dropped to 1.8%. It is easy to overlook that at the same time, core inflation is currently still running at an elevated 3.6% year-on-year, giving the ECB enough reason to remain cautious. However, the pushback against aggressive market pricing has been half-hearted at best, with officials’ remarks having put cuts in the first half of next year clearly into the realm of possibility. But whether they're likely is a different question. The ECB may well decide to let the data be the judge – but at the same time, it remains more reluctant to extrapolate to the extent that the market does. Its own inflation forecast may come down next week, but potentially not to the degree that markets are discounting. We see a good chance that the rally in front end rates – which currently discounts a 75% probability of a cut next March – stalls, if not unwinds to some extent. The longer end may see less upward pressure, though. In the extreme, the Governing Council coming across as overly hawkish and brushing off the faster disinflationary momentum could push markets into the belief that a policy mistake is in the making.   ECB rate expectations   Lagarde can throw a lifeline to the unloved euroThe idiosyncratic decline of the euro has been one of the key themes in FX lately, with the common currency being the worst-performing currency so far in G10. The aggressive dovish repricing of ECB rate expectations has been the main driver, and the comments by Isabel Schnabel right before the pre-meeting quiet period have fuelled the bearish narrative further. With 125bp of cuts priced in by October and markets actively considering a start to the easing cycle already in March, it's difficult to see a bigger dovish repricing happening at this stage. That would suggest the euro does not have to fall much further from the current levels. Still, if only short-term rate differentials are taken into account, a decline to the 1.06 area in EUR/USD would not be an aberration. What is already halting the euro slump is the upbeat risk sentiment, which favours pro-cyclical currencies like the euro and caps the upside for the safe-haven dollar. We expect the ECB to continue its transition to a dovish narrative, but that will – in our view – happen at a slower pace than what markets are implying. We see tangible risks that the the central bank will push back against aggressive dovish speculations at this meeting, and the market may be forced to unwind some of those rate cuts bets, offering room for a EUR/USD rebound. That said, a EUR/USD recovery would struggle to extend much longer after the meeting due to the short-term EUR-USD swap spreads still pointing to a lower exchange rate.

CAD: Macklem turns dovish The Canadian dollar is lagging other pro-cyclical currencies at the start of this week after Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said in a TV interview yesterday that he expects rates to be cut next year. This is a surprise statement by Macklem, who only two weeks ago reiterated the hawkish bias in the BoC policy statement. Offering a timeline for rate cuts appears inconsistent with the BoC's claim that it “remains prepared to raise the policy rate further if needed” and likely validates the market’s pricing for 100bp of easing next year – despite Macklem’s caveats on the disinflation progress. Despite our view of a dollar decline and outperformance of pro-cyclical currencies next year, we expect the Canadian dollar to underperform other commodity currencies as the BoC cuts rates aggressively (we estimate 150bp in 2024) on a grim economic outlook and as the loonie suffers from its correlation with US economic data.

FX Daily: Asia in the driver's seat The dollar is softer and pro-cyclical currencies are following the yuan higher after news that China is preparing a CNY 2tn rescue package for the stock market. The BoJ revised inflation expectations lower but signalled further progress towards the target, keeping anticipation for a hike in June alive. We expect New Zealand CPI to be soft tonight.   USD: China and Japan in focus The dollar has been mostly moved by developments from outside of the US since the start of the week. China remains the centre of attention before key central bank meetings in the developed world. Risk sentiment was boosted overnight as the Chinese government is reportedly considering a large CNY 2tn package to support the struggling stock markets. The rescue plan should be mostly targeted to the Hang Seng stock exchange, which has sharply underperformed global equities of late. This is a strong message that conveys Beijing’s intention to artificially support Chinese markets in spite of the deteriorating economic outlook in the region, and it is reported that other measures are under consideration. It does appear a temporary solution, though. Ultimately, stronger conviction on a Chinese economic rebound is likely necessary to drive a sustainable recovery in Chinese-linked stocks. For now, the FX impact has been positive; USD/CNY has dropped to 7.16/7.17 and we are seeing gains being spread across pro-cyclical currencies as safe-haven flows to the dollar are waning. Doubts about the impact of Beijing rescue package’s effects beyond the short-term automatically extend to the FX impact. It does seem premature to call for an outperformance of China-linked currencies (like AUD and NZD) and softening in the dollar on the back of this morning’s headlines. Another important development in Asian markets overnight was the Bank of Japan policy announcement. In line with our expectations and market consensus, there were no changes to the yield curve control, and forward guidance remained unchanged. Inflation projections were revised lower from 2.8% to 2.4% for the fiscal year starting in April. The revision was mostly a consequence of declining oil prices, and the inflation path continues to show an overshoot of the target for some time. All this was largely expected, and markets are focusing on Governor Kazuo Ueda’s claim that Japan has continued to inch closer to the inflation goals, keeping expectations for an eventual end to the ultra-dovish policy stance some time this year. The yen is experiencing a rebound which is likely boosted its oversold conditions. Money markets currently price in a 10bp rate hike in June. Extra help from a declining USD this morning might push USD/JPY a bit lower (below 147) today, but we suspect that markets may favour defensive USD positions as the Fed meeting approaches. Domestically, the only release to watch today in the US is the Richmond Fed Manufacturing index, which will give some flavour about the state of the sector ahead of tomorrow’s S&P Global PMIs. DXY may stabilise slightly below 103.00 once the China-led risk rally has settled.

Canada edges towards a rate cut in the second quarter Subtle dovish shifts in the Bank of Canada’s thinking and a weak growth backdrop give us increasing confidence that inflation concerns will fade and the BoC will cut rates in 2Q. There may be room for a rebound in short-term CAD rates in the near term though, and USD/CAD could stabilise, but the loonie remains less attractive than the likes of NOK and AUD.   Dovish hints point to cuts The Bank of Canada left monetary policy unchanged at today’s meeting. The target for the overnight rate remains at 5% and the Bank is continuing with quantitative tightening. The market has latched onto the mildly dovish shift in the BoC’s stance with Governor Macklem stating that “there was a clear consensus to maintain our policy at 5%” with the deliberations “shifting from whether monetary policy is restrictive enough to how long to maintain the current restrictive stance”. In this regard the Bank has taken the significant step of removing the line that the Bank “remains prepared to raise the policy rate further if needed” from the accompanying statement. Nonetheless, the Bank remains concerned about the inflation backdrop. It doesn’t expect annual CPI to return to the 2% target until 2025 given “core measures of inflation are not showing sustained declines”, not helped by wages rising 4-5%. That said, there was acknowledgement that the economy “has stalled” with the economy likely stagnating in 1Q 2024. The BoC remains hopeful that it will recover from mid-2024, but the latest BoC Business Outlook Survey reported softening demand and “less favourable business conditions” in the fourth quarter with high interest rates having “negatively impacted a majority of firms”, leading to “most firms” not planning to “add new staff”.  Jobs growth does appear to be cooling and remember, too, that Canadian mortgage rates will continue to ratchet higher for an increasing number of borrowers as their mortgage rates reset after their fixed period ends. In our view this will intensify the financial pressure on households, dampening both consumer spending and inflationary pressures. Unemployment is also expected to rise given the slowdown in job creation and high immigration and population growth rates. Given this backdrop we expect Canadian headline inflation to slow to 2.7% in 1Q and get down to 2% in the second quarter, well ahead of what the BoC expects. Consequently we see scope for the BoC to cut rates by 25bp at every meeting from April onwards (the market is pricing this as a 50:50 call right now). This means 150bp of interest rate cuts versus the consensus prediction and market pricing of 100bp of policy easing. CAD remains less attractive than other commodity currencies The Canadian dollar has weakened following the BoC the announcement, although 2-year CAD yields did not move much after having dropped 10bp to 4.0% since yesterday’s peak on the back of global factors. There may be some room for CAD short-term rates to tick back higher in the near term though, mostly following USD rates. From an FX perspective, it’s key to remember that CAD has been tracking quite closely the dynamics in US data, and that may remain the case until a broader USD decline emerges and favours pro-cyclical currencies such as CAD. We target a move in USD/CAD below 1.30 in the second half of the year, but still see CAD as less attractive than other pro-cyclical currencies like NOK and AUD this year - also due to our expectations for large rate cuts in Canada.