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FX

JPY & GBP React to Escalating Political Tensions

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Watch for the deepening political scandal in Japan                        

  • In Japan, politics appears to be in increasing disarray with Citi analysts now saying that while at the end of March, the Moritomo Gakuen scandal may have fallen short of being detrimental to the Abe administration, developments in the three weeks since appear to be more damaging and it now looks unlikely that the approval rating for the Abe administration will turn around any time soon. As a result, PM Abe may now have a significantly smaller chance of victory in the September LDP presidential election compared to three weeks ago.

 

 

Sterling vulnerability heightens as debate on Customs Union escalates

  • In the UK, rates markets are now pricing a 30% chance for BoE to hike in May with Citi analysts suggesting that despite falling UK unemployment, there seems to be no convincing evidence of rising domestic cost pressures and which suggests little reason to accelerate pace of BoE rate hikes.

 

  • On Brexit, the topic of the EU Customs Union (CU), sees a debate scheduled for Thursday in the House of Commons following PM May’s defeat in the House of Lords last week. In truth, PM May now appears to be stuck between a bit of a rock and a hard place as she faces calls from senior Brexit-supporting ministers to ditch her favored option for a customs deal with the EU. Such an outcome will likely raise more complications on the Irish border issue.

 

 

EUR: Signs of stability emerging in euro zone data

  • Signs that euro zone PMIs are stabilizing after having hit a peak earlier this year comes via German and French preliminary April PMIs that modestly beat forecasts across the board. In its press release, Markit comments that "the pace of expansion stabilized after having slipped to eight month low in March [...]…”. The euro zone April PMI composite released subsequently also comes in unchanged versus the prior month at 55.2 but above consensus looking for 54.8.

     

 

 

Commodity Bloc: BoC caution, prospects of another soft Aussie CPI weighing on CAD and AUD respectively

  • BoC Governor Poloz continues with a cautious tone overnight reminding markets that while Canada’s inflation is above target, it is still within the overall range established by BoC.

     

  • Australia releases Q1’18 CPI this week where Citi analysts expect another quarter of subdued inflation with both headline and underlying annual inflation close to the bottom of the RBA’s 2%-3% target. This is consistent with the RBA committed to the next hike likely around year end.

 

 

This is an extract from the Daily Currency Update, dated 24th April 2018. Please approach a Citigold Relationship Manager if you would like more information.

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