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Its European Central Bank policy meeting day – preview

ECB monetary policy decision is coming later on Thursday 12 September 2019

  • announcement due at 1145gmt
  • ECB President Draghi’s press conference (his last one!) is at 1230 GMT
Various previews have been posted in past days, I’ll collate them all for easy reference a little later. But for now, BNZ have a handy summary:
  • consensus among economists is for a 10bp cut to the ECB’s deposit rate and the announcement of a resumption to QE, with the median estimate for a €30b per month pace of bond buying. 
  • The market prices 14bps of rate cuts in for this meeting, implying an almost 50% chance that the ECB could cut by 20bps. 
  • The ECB is widely expected to accompany any rate cut with the adoption of a “tiering” system for bank reserves, whereby some portion of banks’ reserves will be exempted from the negative deposit rate, in order to mitigate the negative financial impact on the banking sector. 
  • The bond market’s focus is likely to be on whether the ECB restarts its QE programme and, if so, what the size of such a programme might be. Despite the recent rise in European and global rates, expectations for the ECB are still high (as evidenced by a 30 year German yield of 0%) and were it to disappoint market expectations on QE, the risk is for an extension in the recent bond sell-off.
ECB monetary policy decision is coming later on Thursday 12 September 2019 

Deutsche Bank forecasts four Fed interest rate cuts … by January!

Scanning some of the overnight notes, this via DB (via CNBC)

  • “We anticipate 25 [basis] point rate cuts at each of the September, October, December, and January policy meetings”
On the trade war:
  • “If the conflict picks up, the U.S. risks zero rates and a mild recession”
  • expect economic growth to fall to below 1.5% by mid-2020, assuming the trade tensions between the U.S. and China ease or maintain the status quo
Four cuts would make the Prez happy!
But … nah.

Overnight :Tech and healthcare help S&P 500 to highest close since July

Wall Street advanced on Wednesday with the S&P 500 closing above 3,000 for the first time since late July as a rally in tech and healthcare boosted US stocks and investors kept an eye on trade developments. The S&P 500 was up 0.7 per cent, edging closer to a fresh record high, led by healthcare and tech which were both up more than 1 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9 per cent, its sixth consecutive daily rise and its longest winning streak since June. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1 per cent, eyeing its first advance in four days. Apple shares gained more than 3 per cent with the tech company’s market capitalisation climbing back above the $1tn mark on Wednesday as investors cheered its lower-priced iPhone 11 and Apple TV+ subscription. Investors are also looking ahead to key central bank meetings. 

The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates and detail plans for stimulus measures when it concludes its meeting on Thursday. Next week, investors expect the Federal Reserve to deliver a 25 basis-point rate cut. President Donald Trump on Wednesday renewed his attack on the Fed, calling for the “boneheads” at the central bank to cut interest rates to zero or lower. Trade was also on the agenda as China on Wednesday moved to exempt 16 types of US-exported goods from import tariffs ahead of the latest round of trade talks. The State Council’s tax regulator will next look to further expand exemptions on US goods and release follow-up lists when they are ready, it said.

The moves in US markets followed gains in Europe, where the Stoxx 600 rose 0.9 per cent and the Frankfurt-based Dax added 0.7 per cent, while London’s FTSE 100 climbed 1 per cent. Overnight in Asia, the Topix climbed 1.7 per cent, extending the Japanese benchmark’s positive streak into a fifth day. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.8 per cent, lifted by a strong showing from banks including HSBC and Standard Chartered and local developer stocks. In commodities markets, oil prices fell sharply after a report that Mr Trump discussed easing sanctions against Iran. Brent, the international oil marker, reversed its gains and fell 2.1 per cent to $61.08 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, was down 2.4 per cent to $56.03 a barrel. Sovereign bonds extended their sell-off, with the yield on the US 10-year up 4.2 basis points to 1.7437 per cent. The German Bund rose 0.5 basis points to minus 0.562 per cent. Yields move inversely to price.

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