The inflation concerns are easing ahead of today’s US CPI reading. We doubt central bankers will back down so soon, however. Markets are coming around to our view that a peak is near in yields, but we think it might still be a couple of months away In this article US 10yr edges back below 3% on remarkable easing in inflation expectations The inflation scare is easing but beware of circular reasonings Global growth gloom means holding psychologically important levels will be more difficult Today’s events and market views The peak in yields may be near US 10yr edges back below 3% on remarkable easing in inflation expectations The juxtaposition between rising real rates and falling inflation expectations remains, and over the past 24 hours the fall in inflation expectations has been dominant. And that’s why the US 10yr yield has dipped back below 3%. Right now, US 10yr inflation expectations are in the region of 2.65%. They were in excess of 3%, albeit briefly, a few weeks back, at which point talk of a 75bp hike in June were sounding like a solid call. Now that inflation expectations are well down, the 50bp promised looks fine. "10yr real rate in the area of 1% would not look out of whack" Meanwhile the 10yr real yield is now above 30bp. Add that to the inflation expectation and we get the sub-3% 10yr Treasury yield. The move higher in the real yield has been spectacular. Back in March it was deeper than -100bp. The move to 30bp is a sign that the economy has morphed away from the need for ultra-loose policy. And a continued move higher takes it towards a more normal footing. In fact a 10yr real rate in the area of 1% would not look out of whack. If we got there, inflation expectations would fall far more. The adjustment higher in real yields is a threat to risk asset valuations Source: Refinitiv, ING   Today’s US CPI number will be important, but not determinative. In other words it should not have a material impact on the 10yr inflation expectation. That said, if it’s an outsized / surprise number, it’s then more likely to have an impact out the curve. Our central view is in line with the market view, where we do see a fall in contemporaneous inflation, consistent with the recent tendency for inflation expectations to ease lower. We’ve been surprised by this though, and think it’s too early to call it a trend. The inflation scare is easing but beware of circular reasonings The ‘peak inflation’ narrative should receive a boost from slowing US annual headline and core inflation readings today but we would be cautious about chasing the move lower in rates. As always, forward-looking markets could apply a heavy discount to central bank rhetoric but an acceleration in monthly core CPI means Fed officials are unlikely to change tack just yet. One should also remember that the decline from the inflation peak will be very slow indeed, keeping pressure on the Fed to act. Swaps show inflation is no longer the market's only concern Source: Refinitiv, ING   US CPI and Eurozone HICP swaps have dropped significantly this month Further afield, inflation compensation offered by US CPI and Eurozone HICP swaps has dropped significantly this month. Should markets conclude that central banks can now afford to be less hawkish? Only up to a point. To some extent, the drop in inflation swaps is owing to a deteriorating global macro environment, but the post-FOMC timing of this drop also suggests that it has at least as much to do with expectations that central banks will deliver on expected tightening. We would be careful with such circular reasonings. Global growth gloom means holding psychologically important levels will be more difficult For an example of the doubt setting in investors’ mind about central banks’ ability to tighten policy, look no further than yesterday’s better-than-expected German (Zew) and US (National Federation of Independent Business) sentiment indicators. None of the readings was enough to alleviate global growth gloom but the NFIB details in particular could have brought inflation fears back to the fore. We suspect it is too early to call the end of the hawkish re-pricing, with central bankers still very much on their front-foot when it comes to delivering monetary tightening. Bonds risk failing a psychologically important test Source: Refinitiv, ING   We have sympathy with the growing view that there is a short time limit to this tightening cycle We think a better candidate for a peak in yields in this cycle is during the third quarter of this year, after the ECB’s expected first hike and after the couple of additional 50bp hikes the Fed has committed to. This being said, turning points are notoriously difficult to pick and we have sympathy with the growing view that there is a short time limit to this tightening cycle. Should 10Y bonds fail to hold on to their recent jump above the psychologically important levels of 3% for Treasuries and 1% for Bunds, it may take a lot of good news to test these levels again. Today’s events and market views Germany (10Y) and Portugal (8Y) make up today’s Euro sovereign supply slate. This will come on top of a dual tranche NGeu syndicated deal in the 3Y (new issue) and 30Y (tap) sectors. In the US session, the Treasury will auction 10Y notes. The main release of note in the afternoon will be the April CPI report. Consensus is for the annual readings to cool down from the previous month but a monthly acceleration in core could muddy the picture for rates. There is also an extensive list of ECB speakers on the schedule, culminating with interventions from Christine Lagarde and Isabel Schnabel. TagsRates Daily   Disclaimer This publication has been prepared by ING solely for information purposes irrespective of a particular user's means, financial situation or investment objectives. The information does not constitute investment recommendation, and nor is it investment, legal or tax advice or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any financial instrument. Read more

The dollar got a fresh boost, with stocks coming under renewed pressure after a new batch of US inflation data. The annual inflation rate slowed from 8.5% to 8.3% The US consumer price index rose 0.3% in April after 1.2% a month earlier. The annual inflation rate slowed from 8.5% to 8.3% but was higher than the expected 8.1% y/y. Particularly worrying for markets is the development of core inflation. The corresponding index added 0.6% m/m and 6.2% y/y last month, higher than the expected 0.4% and 6.0%, continuing the sprawl of inflation. Higher-than-expected inflation is now positive for the dollar and weighs on equities as it suggests a more robust Fed response While the annual rate of core and core inflation seems to have peaked, higher-than-expected inflation is now positive for the dollar and weighs on equities as it suggests a more robust Fed response. With inflation far from the 2% target, the Fed will be inclined to act faster (raise rates more than 50 points at a time) or stop hiking at a higher level. A significant risk demand indicator, bitcoin, has already moved out of the range with a lower boundary in January 2021 Locally, we see a tug-of-war around the dollar against the euro and yen near the lows of the past two weeks and swings against the pound and the franc near this week’s extremes. However, a significant risk demand indicator, bitcoin, has already moved out of the range with a lower boundary in January 2021. The S&P500 and Nasdaq futures were also pushed back to this week’s lows, indicating continued bearish pressure.

All quiet in Asia ahead of US inflation In this article Macro outlook What to look out for: China and US inflation Source: shutterstock Macro outlook Global: The big story today is going to be the April US CPI release, and markets may be quite muted ahead of this. Our Chief US Economist has written about this in the context of the latest NFIB business survey, so please check out this link for more details. But to summarise, whatever happens tonight, he isn’t looking for US inflation to fall quickly. That may bring back concern about potentially more aggressive FOMC behaviour. In this vein, Loretta Mester yesterday suggested that if inflation wasn’t falling by the second half of the year, the FOMC may need to increase the pace of its tightening. US stocks managed to eke out some small gains yesterday after the big falls earlier this week. But trading was choppy, and it could have gone either way. We don’t read too much directional steer into this for Asia’s open today. G-10 FX continued to show USD support, but movements were not large. EURUSD drifted down to about 1.0530 from about 1.0560 yesterday. The AUD still looks pressured lower and is about 0.6937 as of writing. Other Asian FX was fairly muted, though note there is a BNM meeting today, so a “no-change” which is on the cards, could see the MYR softening further. Bond markets were also fairly muted. 2-year US Treasury yields edged up slightly, but the 10Y US Treasury bond yield drifted back under 3.0%. 10Y JGBs have been drifting higher – challenging the 0.25% level, and breaching it intraday, so we may be due an official response of sorts imminently.    China: April CPI and PPI inflation rates are expected to slow from March due to lower metal and coal prices and weak demand for consumer goods. We will probably see higher prices for pork and fertilizer. This set of data reflects slower economic growth resulting from the Covid-19 social distancing measures. Korea: The Jobless rate remained unchanged in April at 2.7% (vs the market consensus of 2.8%) for the third straight month, while the labour participation rate improved to 63.8% (vs 63.5% in March), indicating that the labour market continued on a recovery track. Reopening is supporting employment growth in service sectors such as retail sales, recreation, and transportation. Despite a gloomier outlook for manufacturing, employment in that sector posted a solid gain for the eighth straight month. However, one potential caveat to this month’s report was that the majority of the employment growth came from the older age group (60+) while the 30’s (supposedly the most productive group) lost the most jobs. President Yoon Seok Yeol’s party has proposed a supplementary budget plan to the government this morning. Although the size was in line with the market expectation of about KRW33tr, it is noted that the extra budget would not require additional bond issuance. More details will be released tomorrow. Read next: Stablecoins In Times Of Crypto Crash. What is Terra (UST)? A Deep Look Into Terra Altcoin. Terra - Leading Decentralised And Open-Source Public Blockchain Protocol | FXMAG.COM What to look out for: China and US inflation Korea unemployment (11 May) China CPI and PPI inflation (11 May) US CPI inflation (11 May) Philippines 1Q GDP (12 May) US PPI inflation and initial jobless claims (12 May) Malaysia GDP (13 May) Hong Kong GDP (13 May) US Michigan sentiment (13 May) TagsEmerging Markets Asia Pacific Asia Markets Asia Economics   Disclaimer This publication has been prepared by ING solely for information purposes irrespective of a particular user's means, financial situation or investment objectives. The information does not constitute investment recommendation, and nor is it investment, legal or tax advice or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any financial instrument. Read more

US small business optimism held steady in April after three consecutive falls. Nonetheless, businesses retain the ability to pass higher costs onto their customers and this will keep inflation sticky. Ongoing supply chain issues and rising fuel costs mean 2% inflation is a distant prospect Business sentiment holds steady, but firms still want to hire The recent US data has been mixed and that has helped to fuel fears that the economy could experience a marked slowdown, especially with the Federal Reserve firmly focused on inflation and hiking interest rates. Dollar strength is acting as a further headwind to growth by making US exports less price competitive in what is already a challenging external demand environment for companies. In this regard this morning’s National Federation of Independent Business survey for April was marginally better than expected at the headline level with optimism holding steady versus expectations of a fourth consecutive monthly drop. Nonetheless it is still the weakest level since April 2020 in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic striking. The details show a slight improvement in the proportion of small businesses expecting higher sales, but there was a little more pessimism on the outlook for the economy and whether it was a good time to expand. Set against this softer environment, firms are still struggling with worker shortages and are desperate to hire. The NFIB released the labour components last Thursday, which a net 46% having raised worker compensation during the past 3 months and 27% expecting to do so further. Inflation pressures show no sign of moderating Looking to tomorrow's inflation data the NFIB report shows a net 70% of companies raised their selling prices in the past 3 month - down from last month's 72% balance, but this is still the second highest reading in the survey's 47-year history. Moreover, a net 46% of firms plan to raise their prices further over the next three months (down from 50%, but this is still the 6th highest reading in the survey's history). This reinforces the message the despite concerns about where the economy is heading, businesses continue to have pricing power and highlights the breadth of inflation pressures in the economy. The ability to raise prices is seen across all sectors and all sizes of businesses NFIB price indicators show no sign of a turn in inflation Source: Macrobond, ING Inflation may be peaking, but 2% is a long way away Tomorrow's CPI report will probably show that inflation has passed the peak, due largely to lower used car prices, but in the absence of major improvements in supply chains and geopolitical tensions, the descent to the 2% target will be very slow and may not be achieved until the very end of 2023. However, with national gasoline prices hitting a new all-time high yesterday that will come as little comfort to most households. TagsUS Inflation Federal Reserve Business optimism   Disclaimer This publication has been prepared by ING solely for information purposes irrespective of a particular user's means, financial situation or investment objectives. The information does not constitute investment recommendation, and nor is it investment, legal or tax advice or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any financial instrument. Read more

The pro-inflationary impact of the war in Ukraine is finally filtering through into the data. Monetary policy might shift to a higher gear Food inflation came in at 15.6% year-on-year, showing a significant acceleration 10.3% Core inflation (YoY) ING forecast 9.7% / Previous 9.1% The impact of the war is finally appearing in inflation data April's inflation data is finally showing the impact of the Ukraine war. While the March release was a relatively pleasant surprise, with only a moderate acceleration in price pressure, inflation in April was the total opposite. There has been a sharp rise in prices: on a monthly basis, it reached a 1.6% rate. The last time we had such a strong dynamic was in 2012 after a VAT increase. The bad news is that the current tide in prices is not the result of a single measure. Roughly 50% of the consumer basket items showed double-digit year-on-year inflation in April. Against this backdrop, the 9.5% year-on-year headline inflation print is hardly surprising. Main drivers of the change in headline CPI (%) Source: HCSO, ING The details Food inflation came in at 15.6% year-on-year, showing a significant acceleration. Both unprocessed and processed items are contributing to the elevated price pressure. Despite prices of some basic food being capped, there is strong repricing everywhere: the monthly food inflation is three to four times higher than usual. This is a result of several supply-side shocks (transportation, agricultural commodities, energy, wages, etc.) and probably the weak forint. The second-most important contributor behind the sharp acceleration is the other goods and motor fuel category, which covers household goods, toiletries and pharma products and goods for recreation and education. Durables are also showing a remarkable 11.1% yearly price increase, a major contributor to inflation pressure. Rising industrial producer prices are showing up in consumer prices as demand-supply mismatch prevails. Services inflation accelerated by only 0.3ppt reaching 6.3% year-on-year in April, but monthly inflation has remained much stronger than usual, pointing toward a significant repricing pattern. Only clothing, alcoholic beverages and tobacco hold back the year-on-year inflation print. The latter is only a base effect due to an excise duty hike in tobacco products carried out in April 2021. The composition of headline inflation (ppt) Source: HCSO, ING Underlying inflation reaches double-digit territory The last point also means that, as alcoholic beverages and tobacco are not part of the core inflation basket, this base effect didn’t have a beneficial effect on core inflation. While headline inflation accelerated by 1ppt, the core reading rose by 1.2ppt. With that, double-digit underlying inflation has arrived in Hungary: the Statistical Office registered a 10.3% year-on-year core indicator. The central bank’s underlying inflation indicators, which are good predictors of medium-term developments in price changes, have also moved into the double-digit category. Headline and underlying inflation measures (% YoY) Source: HCSO, NBH, ING Further acceleration ahead Inflation in Hungary is expected to rise further in the coming months, as the economy continues to show a significant demand-supply mismatch. Labour shortage, rising wages and other supply-side shocks are increasingly spilling over into consumer prices, with companies enduring significant pricing power. Recent surveys are showing that roughly 60-80% of companies (depending on their respective sectors) are planning further price rises. In light of today’s upside surprise, headline inflation will soon reach double-digits as well. The extent and timing of the peak in price pressure highly depend on the fate of price caps, but as of now, we see the peak well above 11% in the third quarter. On average, we forecast a 10% headline reading in 2022. The central bank might raise the pace As far as monetary policy is concerned, as underlying inflation is also strengthening to an extraordinary extent (1.8% month-on-month), the National Bank of Hungary will hardly have an opportunity to think about stopping the interest rate hike cycle anytime soon. In our view, the recent data will urge the central bank to rethink its tightening path both from the perspective of its length and its peak. We see a possibility that the central bank will speed up its effective rate hiking from the recent 30bp tempo to 50bp or even 75bp in May. Against this backdrop, our 8.25% terminal rate call seems outdated and we now see the peak in base and 1-week deposit rates at above 9%. TagsNational Bank of Hungary Monetary policy Inflation Hungary CPI   Disclaimer This publication has been prepared by ING solely for information purposes irrespective of a particular user's means, financial situation or investment objectives. The information does not constitute investment recommendation, and nor is it investment, legal or tax advice or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any financial instrument. Read more

Italian industry has shown it is temporarily less vulnerable to supply disruptions, but we suspect that this will not be enough to prevent another GDP contraction in 2Q22, marking the start of a short-lived technical recession In this article Flat production after an extremely volatile start to the year Sector breakdown confirms previous patterns Unlikely improvement over 2Q22, in the current circumstances Italian industrial production stabilised in March Flat production after an extremely volatile start to the year After an extremely volatile start to the year, Italian industrial production stabilised in March, the first month fully encompassing the start of the war in Ukraine. According to the national statistics agency Istat, in seasonally-adjusted terms, production was flat on the month and up 3% year-on-year when adjusted for working days. This is better than expected and somehow confirms that Italian industry remains less vulnerable to supply chain disruptions than other major European countries. In March, the production index was still 2.7% higher than in pre-pandemic February 2020. Sector breakdown confirms previous patterns All big aggregates posted monthly gains, with the exception of intermediate goods. When looking at the yearly changes for the first quarter, within the manufacturing domain, the production of refined products, textiles and apparel, electronic equipment and pharma led the growth ranking. At the other end of the spectrum, the worst performers were plastics and non-metal mineral products, the latter likely most affected by the sharp increase in the price of gas, an essential energy input in many processes. Unlikely improvement over 2Q22, in the current circumstances Looking forward, it is hard to believe that Italian industry will not be affected by the ongoing combination of supply chain constraints, high energy prices and softening consumption. Since March, business surveys have been pointing towards a softening of orders, less markedly for capital goods, and in parallel to a downward revision of production expectations. We are not talking about free falls, but more likely adjustments to a new temporary reality against a backdrop of decent domestic fundamentals. With uncertainty about developments of the war and with energy markets still elevated, we believe that the second quarter will unlikely mark a rebound after the 0.2% quarter-on-quarter contraction of 1Q22. We stick to our base case of a technical recession, but take stock of positive indications coming from the tourism sector, which might contribute to a decent rebound in 3Q22. We are currently forecasting average Italian GDP growth for 2022 at 2.3%. TagsItaly industrial production Italy GDP Italy   Disclaimer This publication has been prepared by ING solely for information purposes irrespective of a particular user's means, financial situation or investment objectives. The information does not constitute investment recommendation, and nor is it investment, legal or tax advice or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any financial instrument. Read more