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The short term lid on the US dollar

  
Analysis, Forex
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Comments from Westpac senior currency analyst Sean Callow quoted in a Reuters piece in response to Powell speaking on Thursday (US time).

  • “Shorter-term, Powell just put a lid on the US dollar”
  • “The baseline case is still for a substantial acceleration in the global economy, which historically has proven to be positive for most currencies against the USD, but I think there is potential to at least have a debate over whether us USD will be quite as weak as people expect. “

Here’s what it’ll take for gold (and silver) to climb to new highs ($2100, $30)

  
  Analysis
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  • Real rates are now rising along with nominal yields due to stimulus optimism and risk appetite, with the USD also off its lows. 
  • Given that the US economy will continue to positively respond to an additional trillion dollars worth of fiscal stimulus and continued Fed measures, it is quite likely that rates and the dollar may see some better days into 2020. 
  • This, along with profit-taking by the very active retail investors and COMEX margin increases should see gold consolidate lower.
  • Before … new highs ($2,100+, $30+), there will need to be confirmation that the Fed will indeed suppress yields, consider average inflation targeting and there are signs that inflation may move higher
  • At the same time, markets will want to see if monetization of debt is in the cards, before talk of these levels becoming sustained is credible. 
  • TD securities projects an average gold price of $2,100/oz in Q4-2021 and $30/oz silver price during the same period

China infrastructure stimulus – 3 times as many pile drivers are sold as are sold in all of US & Europe

  
  Analysis
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A piece in the New York Times that makes for an interesting read.

  • The scope of China’s latest building boom is enormous
  • Thirty-seven Chinese cities are in the process of building a total of 150 new subway lines
  • The country’s high-speed rail system, which already connects more than 700 towns and cities, is expanding so fast that it annually buys three times as many pile drivers as the European and American markets combined. 
Here is the link for more (may be gated)
china infrastuctre thumbs

USD facing more questions about its status as the primary reserve currency

  
Analysis, Forex
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Here is an item on the US dollar from Bloomberg that may be of interest.

It cites analysts from Credit Agricole and Mizuho
  • USD accounts for more than 60% of global reserves
  • the most widely used currency for international transactions
  • But it risks ceding ground to the euro after European Union leaders agreed on a 750 billion euro stimulus package that enhances the appeal of the shared currency and euro-denominated assets
CA say that the recovery fund will facilitate diversification out of the US dollar
offering liquid, high-rating, euro-denominated debt
Here is an item on the US dollar from Bloomberg that may be of interest.
I’d not be getting too gung-ho on this, and note that the analysts say ‘risks ceding ground’, they are not writing off the dollar.

Oil to trade flat to lower through to the end of 2020

  
  Crude
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View for the balance of H2 from Rabobank, this in brief (bolding mine):

enormous stockpile of drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs) amassed in the Permian Basin over the last number of years …  the latest figures showing an impressive 3,488 DUCs waiting to be tapped. In fact, nowhere else in the world that we know of holds such a vast stockpile of drilled wells that have yet to be completed. This is a huge buffer for crude oil supplies that can be called upon to meet demand needs for months and even years to come and this is in addition to the record amount of crude stockpiles sitting in onshore tanks and offshore tankers.
  • oil market still struggling to clear the massive surge of Saudi exports that resulted from the short-lived price and market share war back in April
  • data … shows a massive spike in Saudi oil exports to the US that have come onshore over the past six to eight weeks. In fact, there is still a large amount of crude oil on the water that is waiting to be cleared.
  • We continue to see limited upside to both flat price and calendar spreads as a result of fundamental and quantitative market pressures. As such, it would not surprise us to see a washout of the out-sized speculative “longs” that have built up in crude oil futures in recent months and specifically in WTI as retail investors continue to flee the space in droves. 
  • On the flip side though, we still expect any major dips in crude to be bought as oil still looks attractive on a relative basis to other asset classes and especially given the amount of stimulus flushing through financial markets, a dynamic we expect to remain in place for the foreseeable future.
View for the balance of H2 from Rabobank, this in brief (bolding mine):

Here’s a EUR/USD forecast (to 1.15) with the ECB expected to be optimistic this week

  
Analysis, Forex
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The European Central Bank meet this week, preview below.

  • Meeting Thursday 16 July 2020
  • Policy announcement at 1145GMT (policy likely unchanged)
Euro forecast via Danske (this from late last week):
  • We remain constructive and expect the broad USD to decline over the coming months
  • 3 month forecast is 1.15
On the upcoming ECB policy meeting
  • we expect a repetition of recent comments from various governing council members, thereby striking a cautiously optimistic tone compared to the June projections. 
  • We also expect they may decide not to use the EUR1,350bn PEPP envelope in full. 
  • No new initiatives are expected next week
  • Markets may not be prepared for a ‘less dovish’ message
  • with abundant liquidity, PEPP and APP still ongoing
  • Our key expectation is that the ECB will reiterate its stance towards supporting a recovery, with, not least, a focus on sovereign spreads. 
For spot FX,
  • the direction and stance of the ECB and euro area fiscal politics are, in our view, quite well priced and communicated (though to a lesser extent when it comes to the outcome for Brexit). In turn, it will be the breath and speed of the global recovery that sets the tone in EUR/USD, and mostly through the USD leg

European Central Bank preview

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