Risk Appetite Continues To Improve On Relief Rally

 | Sep 19, 2018 09:31

Market Overview

As the trade tensions continue to ratchet up, it seems that traders are taking the glass half full as sentiment remains positive. This latest move by the US to add 10% tariffs on $200bn of Chinese imports has been met by China by a reciprocal tariff on $60bn of US imports.

The relief has come in that it could have been worse, with the US tariff of 25% coming in only on 1st January, giving the two sides time to still negotiate. The attitude to risk on this move has been telling though, with equity markets both in Asia and the US (and in Europe for that matter) stronger, whilst the safe haven yen has been the big underperformer.

In a further nod to the move back into risk, there was a 5 basis points jump on the US 10-Year Treasury yield yesterday. This may have helped Dollar/Yen higher on yield differentials, however, notably there is still a disconnect for yield differentials versus the euro and sterling.

The better performance of gold is another indication that market moves that we have seen in recent months are beginning to reverse in their reaction to this trade dispute. This is illustrated by moves on commodity prices such as copper, which have previously been under considerable strain during this trade dispute are suddenly looking more positive, helping the performance of higher risk currencies such as the Aussie dollar this morning. In other news overnight, the Bank of Japan monetary policy meeting showed no change to rates as expected, maintaining the -0.1%.

Wall Street closed decisively higher again with the S&P 500 +0.5% at 2904 whilst futures are ticking marginally higher too. This has helped another positive session in Asia with the Nikkei +1.1% whilst the China Shanghai B was +0.9%. In European markets there is less of a positive reaction but still gains are being seen.

In forex majors, the dollar is increasingly corrective against the higher risk major currencies such as the Aussie and Kiwi, whilst the euro is looking to regain some momentum. Furthermore, sterling continues to climb slowly but surely with a key EU summit in Salzburg in the next couple of days.

In commodities, the weaker dollar is helping gold higher and oil is steady.

The economic calendar has a little more action on it today, with the Eurozone Current Account at 09:00 BST to be watched, with the surplus expected to slip a touch to +€22.4bn (from +€23.5bn previously). Sterling traders will be keeping a close eye on UK CPI inflation for August at 09:30 BST which is expected to show a drop in both headline CPI to +2.4% (from +2.5% in July) and core CPI also expected to decline to +1.8% (from +1.9%). Also watch for the PPI Input Prices which are expected to drop back to +9.1% (from +10.9% in July) having a key link to the strength of sterling and subsequently inflationary pressures further down the line.

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The US Q2 Current Account is at 13:30 BST and is expected to improve on the deficit to -$103.5bn (from -124.1bn in Q1). The US Building Permits are at 13:30 BST and are expected to remain at 1.31m (1.31m in July) with Housing Starts also at 13:30 BST which are expected to improve to 1.24m (from 1.17m in July). The EIA oil inventories are at 15:30 BST with crude oil stocks expected to drawdown by -2.5m barrels (-5.3m last week) with distillates building by +0.4m (+6.2m last week) and gasoline drawdown by -0.4m (+1.3m last week).

Chart of the Day – AUD/JPY

We focused on the potential recovery in AUD/JPY last week as the market started to post momentum improvements, however yesterday there seemed to be a decisive shift in sentiment that should help to drive continued recovery. Trump’s latest escalation in the trade dispute was met with a positive risk move. An initial slip back on AUD/JPY bounced almost perfectly off a near term pivot at 79.70 to push above 80.80 to see a near three week high, but more importantly, a break of the two month downtrend. This has been a downtrend that was very well-defined until the breach. The move has also included a close above the previous floor at 80.50 whilst also being confirmed on momentum indicators. The RSI above 50 to a six week high, MACD bull cross and Stochastics accelerating higher. The market is now positioned for a recovery towards the next resistance at 81.80 and corrections will be seen as a chance to buy for the move. The hourly chart shows a band of support 80.50/80.80, with 79.70 support increasingly key now.