Fixed Income and Currency Strategist

Gautam Jain, PhD, CFA

FX & Rates

<ul>
<li>Chile's political polarization was apparent in Sunday's general elections where the two leading candidates for the presidency who are headed for a run-off election are leftist and ultra-conservative. </li>
<li>The markets reacted positively to the elections in which right-wing parties performed well, which allowed me to recommend taking profits on a long Chilean peso vs South African rand trade.</li>
<li>While there is room for the peso to continue to outperform, I recommend closing the trade for now as I anticipate market volatility to pick up again.</li>
</ul>


Chile's political polarization was apparent in Sunday's general elections where the two leading candidates for the presidency who are headed for a run-off election are leftist and ultra-conservative. 
The markets reacted positively to the elections in which right-wing parties performed well, which allowed me to recommend taking profits on a long Chilean peso vs South African rand trade.
While there is room for the peso to continue to outperform, I recommend closing the trade for now as I anticipate market volatility to pick up again.


Chile’s Market-Friendly Election Outcome Allows Exit from Trade Recommendation

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<ul>
<li>Last week's spike in US asset prices, including US Treasuries, in the wake of gangbuster US CPI-inflation data for October, has proved short-lived.  </li>
<li>However, EM currencies have outperformed developed currencies since 1st November thanks partly to EM central bank policy rate hikes, a lack of currency contagion and domestic macro data.</li>
<li>We focus on low-volatility Asian currencies, the under-pressure Norwegian Krone, Polish Zloty,  Hungarian Forint and Euro and the importance of the release of UK retail sales data on Friday.</li>
</ul>


Last week's spike in US asset prices, including US Treasuries, in the wake of gangbuster US CPI-inflation data for October, has proved short-lived.  
However, EM currencies have outperformed developed currencies since 1st November thanks partly to EM central bank policy rate hikes, a lack of currency contagion and domestic macro data.
We focus on low-volatility Asian currencies, the under-pressure Norwegian Krone, Polish Zloty,  Hungarian Forint and Euro and the importance of the release of UK retail sales data on Friday.


FX Round-Up – Calm Before the Next Storm

<ul>
<li>The Hungarian central bank increased the size of the rate hike from the previous meeting, but it failed to provide much support to the currency.</li>
<li>I expect the forint to lag in the near term unless the central bank turns more aggressive because real rates remain negative and the carry of the currency is low.</li>
<li>Complicating the task of the central bank are the upcoming election in 2022, which has led to the prime minister ramping up pre-election spending, adding to inflationary pressures.</li>
</ul>


The Hungarian central bank increased the size of the rate hike from the previous meeting, but it failed to provide much support to the currency.
I expect the forint to lag in the near term unless the central bank turns more aggressive because real rates remain negative and the carry of the currency is low.
Complicating the task of the central bank are the upcoming election in 2022, which has led to the prime minister ramping up pre-election spending, adding to inflationary pressures.


Forint to Lag Even as the Hungarian Central Bank Raises the Pace of Rate Hikes

After strengthening through early October, the US dollar has turned trendless. I evaluate the change in performance of EM currencies when the dollar was at a peak versus now. Specifically, I go over the regional and country divergences to identify the outperformers and underperformers. I also highlight the currencies where I see the most value.Separately, the attached file is a snapshot of the EM currency market in which I seek to identify the leaders and laggards among currencies by comparing the performance of each to its history as well as to other currencies based on their respective betas to an EM currency index.

After strengthening through early October, the US dollar has turned trendless. I evaluate the change in performance of EM currencies when the dollar was at a peak versus now. Specifically, I go over the regional and country divergences to identify the outperformers and underperformers. I also highlight the currencies where I see the most value.Separately, the attached file is a snapshot of the EM currency market in which I seek to identify the leaders and laggards among currencies by comparing the performance of each to its history as well as to other currencies based on their respective betas to an EM currency index.

FX Dashboard: Updating EM FX Winners and Losers

Global FX volatility – as measured by the 5-day Standard Deviation (SD) in the daily percentage change in the spot (closing) price of a turnover-weighted basket of 32 major currency pairs against the US Dollar – remains depressed by historical standards.While global FX volatility rose slightly on 11th August to about 0.32 SD following the release of US CPI-inflation data, it is still well below its level one month ago (0.43 SD) and 10-year average (0.47 SD). Notably global FX volatility is at a similar level (0.30 SD) as it was in the run-up to the 16th June Fed meeting and release of a more hawkish FOMC “<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/fomcprojtabl20210616.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dot-chart</a>”.Volatility versus the US Dollar in most of these 32 developed and EM currencies has either fallen in the past month from already modest levels or been broadly stable. Volatility in the high-yielding Brazilian Real and low-yielding Canadian Dollar, Czech Crown, Norwegian Krone and Hungarian Forint has fallen the most in absolute terms. However, there have been a few notable exceptions, including the Turkish Lira, Thai Baht and Chilean, Colombian and Philippines Pesos.USD/THB volatility has risen further in past month and is now near top end of its admittedly narrow 12-month range. The Baht has been choppy against a strong US Dollar, resulting in the Baht NEER appreciating 1.4% since the multi-year low recorded on 6th August.GBP/EUR volatility is currently at its lowest level since early June. Sterling’s appreciation against the Euro has been slow and steady, in line with our expectations. Volatility in global FX (and the S&amp;P 500) also remains very modest compared to volatility in other asset classes, notably US Treasuries and Brent crude oil (see Figure 5). Most of the price action has been in the US rates market in recent months, perhaps unsurprisingly given protracted debate about the timeline for Fed tapering and rate hikes.There are a number of factors behind this low transmission from US rates to Dollar crosses and equities but, as was the case in late-2019, FX markets are ultimately pricing in very little risk of policy, macro data or geopolitical surprises, in our view.

Global FX volatility – as measured by the 5-day Standard Deviation (SD) in the daily percentage change in the spot (closing) price of a turnover-weighted basket of 32 major currency pairs against the US Dollar – remains depressed by historical standards.While global FX volatility rose slightly on 11th August to about 0.32 SD following the release of US CPI-inflation data, it is still well below its level one month ago (0.43 SD) and 10-year average (0.47 SD). Notably global FX volatility is at a similar level (0.30 SD) as it was in the run-up to the 16th June Fed meeting and release of a more hawkish FOMC “dot-chart”.Volatility versus the US Dollar in most of these 32 developed and EM currencies has either fallen in the past month from already modest levels or been broadly stable. Volatility in the high-yielding Brazilian Real and low-yielding Canadian Dollar, Czech Crown, Norwegian Krone and Hungarian Forint has fallen the most in absolute terms. However, there have been a few notable exceptions, including the Turkish Lira, Thai Baht and Chilean, Colombian and Philippines Pesos.USD/THB volatility has risen further in past month and is now near top end of its admittedly narrow 12-month range. The Baht has been choppy against a strong US Dollar, resulting in the Baht NEER appreciating 1.4% since the multi-year low recorded on 6th August.GBP/EUR volatility is currently at its lowest level since early June. Sterling’s appreciation against the Euro has been slow and steady, in line with our expectations. Volatility in global FX (and the S&amp;P 500) also remains very modest compared to volatility in other asset classes, notably US Treasuries and Brent crude oil (see Figure 5). Most of the price action has been in the US rates market in recent months, perhaps unsurprisingly given protracted debate about the timeline for Fed tapering and rate hikes.There are a number of factors behind this low transmission from US rates to Dollar crosses and equities but, as was the case in late-2019, FX markets are ultimately pricing in very little risk of policy, macro data or geopolitical surprises, in our view. 

Low Global FX Vol: Maturity or Complacency?

Hungary

The Hungarian forint is the official currency of the Republic of Hungary. The US Dollar is the official currency of Unites States of America.

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HUF (USDHUF CURNCY)

Chile’s Market-Friendly Election Outcome Allows Exit from Trade Recommendation

The markets reacted positively to Chile's elections in which right-wing parties performed well, which allowed me to recommend taking profits on a...

Gautam Jain, PhD, CFA

FX Round-Up – Calm Before the Next Storm

Interest rate and FX vol has subsided with directionality in EM and developed market currencies driven by domestic macro data and monetary...

Olivier Desbarres

Forint to Lag Even as the Hungarian Central Bank Raises the Pace of Rate Hikes

I expect the forint to lag in the near term unless the central bank turns more aggressive because real rates remain negative, the carry of the...

Gautam Jain, PhD, CFA

FX Dashboard: Updating EM FX Winners and Losers

As the US dollar turns trendless, I go over the regional and country divergences to identify the outperformers and underperformers in EM. I also...

Gautam Jain, PhD, CFA

Low Global FX Vol: Maturity or Complacency?

Global FX vol is low by historical standards and relative to vol in US Treasuries, and for good resason. But FX markets are pricing in very little...

Olivier Desbarres

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52-week Range

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