Summary: The sharp rally in US treasuries and fall in yields in recent sessions has brought some profound relief to the lowest yielding currencies, from the euro to the most negative yielding of them all, the Swiss franc. The move could yet deepen further, but far too early to call a change of trend. Elsewhere, India and Russia are worth mention in the EM space.
Chart: USDCHF
A USDCHF correction has set in, one with somewhat greater amplitude relative to the recent rise than the correction we are seeing in the US treasury market, though the latter is clearly the driver. But the late rally has altered the structure of the chart, neutralizing the former down-move, so whether here, or in USDJPY, we’ll be looking out for support to come in sooner rather than later. With a correction back to 1.50% for the US 10-year benchmark, the USDCHF pair may move back to something like 0.9200 or perhaps even 0.9100, the 200-day moving average.
EM divergences – TRY, INR, RUB, ZAR
In aggregate, things are fairly quiet on the EM front, but there are a few stories worth noting here. The Turkish lira exchange rate continues to triangulate while the forward implied yields have calmed considerably, rewarding those who took the plunge and bet against immediate chaos by selling USDTRY forwards. And the credit spreads on Turkish debt have also tightened a bit less than half way back to where they were before Erdogan’s shock shuffle of the central bank leadership. TRY is still a risky proposition – have to watch the next signals from the new central bank chief – especially on next Thursday’s rate decision.
The Ruble is very weak relative to crude oil and the tightening message from the Russian central bank and has to be an expression of a geopolitical risk discount that is growing. Rumblings of the situation in Ukraine and the overhanging concerns on sanctions could continue to weigh until something sets the situation in a different direction.
The Indian rupee, INR, is in focus after the central bank there moved forward with a modest QE programme, with plans to purchase a trillion rupees (south of $15 billion) in Indian government bonds. The INR was down about 1.5% on the story as of this writing. India is experiencing a vicious new rise in Covid cases, though hopefully the latest jump in the pace of vaccinations can accelerate further in coming days and weeks.
The South African rand is back close to the cycle highs versus the US dollar, held in part aloft by calm seas in EM credit, the stories above notwithstanding, but also by a strong platinum price, which all ZAR traders should track as an important input.
John Hardy Head of FX Strategy
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