Die Bank of Japan wird bei ihrer Sitzung am 17./18. Januar vermutlich die Zinsen auf 0,5 % erhöhen. Dies verringert die Zinsdifferenz zum Dollar - mit der Folge, dass viele Carry-Trades (billiges Geld in Yen leihen, in Dollar umwechseln und in USA hochverzinst anlegen) rückabgewickelt werden könnten. D. h. Anleger würden Yen gegen Dollars kaufen. Dies würde die Kapitalflüsse in die USA, mit denen die Defizite finanziert werden, reduzieren. Immerhin ist Japan weltweit die Nr. 2 nach USA, es geht also um SEHR VIEL Geld.
Allein dies könnte ein Grund für die Fed sein, die Dollar-Zinsen zu erhöhen (# 2616), um die Zinsdifferenz zum Yen konstant zu halten (was obigen Geldabzug verhindert).
12.01.07 21:59
Omi: BoJ muss Wirtschaft unterstützenDer japanische Finanzminister Koji Omi sagte am Freitag, er erwarte, dass die Bank of Japan die heimische Wirtschaft mit ihrer Geldpolitik unterstütze. Regierung und Zentralbank müssten in dieser Frage kooperieren. Die japanische Wirtschaftserholung werde sich fortsetzen, wenn die globale Ökonomie weiter in gutem Zustand bleibe, so Omi weiter. Auch die japanische Binnenkonjunktur beginne, den Aufschwung zu unterstützen. EUR/JPY befindet sich trotz der optimistischen Äußerungen von Omi am Freitag weiter im Aufwind; gegen 21:55 Uhr CET wird EUR/JPY mit 155,56 gehandelt. (vz/FXdirekt)
DIE ZEIT
Robert von Heusinger, 10.3.06
Obacht! Japan entdeckt den Zins wieder
Heute Morgen ist der globale Kapitalismus wieder ein Stückchen normaler geworden. Heute Morgen hat nämlich die Bank of Japan (BoJ) das Ende ihrer „quantitativen Lockerungspolitik“ verkündet. Damit stehen die Zeichen gut, dass die Deflation in der zweitgrößten Volkswirtschaft der Welt allmählich der Vergangenheit angehört. Seit sieben Jahren liegen die Notenbankzinsen im Land der aufgehenden Sonne bei nullkommanull Prozent. Seit fünf Jahren hat die BoJ sich nicht anders zu helfen gewusst, als Monat für Monat Billionen Yen in das Bankensystem zu pumpen, um den Kollaps abzuwenden.
Genau diese Notfallmaßnahme, nämlich dem Aufkauf von Wertpapieren aus den Portfolios der Banken, hat die Notenbank nun abgeschworen. Denn seit drei Monaten ist die Inflationsrate endlich wieder positiv. Über die kommenden Monate möchte die BoJ die Überliquidität abschmelzen. Zur Zeit halten die Banken umgerechnet rund 250 Milliarden Euro bei der Zentralbank, das ist sechsmal so viel, wie sie eigentlich dort parken müssen. Aber nur durch diese produzierte Geldschwemme ist es in den vergangenen Jahren gelungen, der Wirtschaft wieder Dynamik einzuhauchen. Nur weil die Banken derart mit Zentralbankgeld ausgestattet worden sind, konnte der Zins als Steuerungsinstrument ausgeschaltet werden, hatten die Banken genug Puffer, um einer Liquiditätskrise zu entgehen. Zur Zeit wächst Japan schneller als die beiden anderen großen Wirtschaftsblöcke USA und Euroland.
Bis auf weiteres behält die Notenbank ihre Nullzinspolitik bei, genauso wie den monatlichen Ankauf von 1,2 Billionen Yen Staatsschulden (umgerechnet: gut acht Milliarden Euro). Damit soll der Entzug der Droge „billiges Geld“ langsam über die Bühne gehen. Zu Recht. Damit sollen auch die Zinssätze für langlaufende Staatspapiere noch eine Weile lang niedrig gehalten werden. Auch das ist extrem wichtig, um keinen Schock auszulösen. Denn zehnjährige japanische Staatspapier rentieren zur Zeit gerade mal mit 1,63 Prozent, zweijährige mit 0,47 Prozent.
Doch an einer Erkenntnis kommt niemand vorbei: Die Spielregeln am internationalen Kapitalmarkt werden sich durch die Normalisierung stark ändern. Und da die Herde an den Finanzmärkten in der Regel nach vorne schaut, wird sie nicht warten, bis der erste Zinsschritt von null auf 0,1 oder 0,2 erfolgen wird, sondern rennt schon vorher los. Bislang war Japan der große Finanzier aller Carrytrader, die sich Geld „kostenlos“ in Japan geliehen haben und dann damit auf den anderen Märkten Papiere gekauft haben. Ein großer Teil der hohen Preise für Highyields und Emerging-Market-Anleihen sowie –Aktien geht auf die „kostenlose“ Finanzierungsquelle Japan zurück. Droht dort ein Ausverkauf?
Und was heißt es, dass Japan allmählich den Zins zur Steuerung seiner Wirtschaft wieder entdeckt? Werden die Anleihepreise jetzt auch in Amerika und Europa stärker steigen? Wird Japan der Schlüssel zur Lösung des Greenspan’schen „Rätsel“ sein? Und welche Spuren werden die Kursverluste japanischer Anleihen in den Bankbilanzen hinterlassen?
Auf alle diese Frage habe ich noch keine abschließende Antwort. Allerdings glaube ich fest, dass der heutige Tag für den globalen Kapitalismus, für das Ausbalancieren der Ungleichgewichte noch wichtiger war, als die Ankündigung der Chinesen im Frühsommer vergangenen Jahres, den Wechselkurs zu flexibilisieren. Überall neue Unsicherheiten, neue Erwartungen, neue Wetten, die die Kurse massiv beeinflussen können.
Schon seit ein paar Wochen habe ich das komische Gefühl, dass die Entwicklung am japanischen Kapitalmarkt für die Geschehnisse in Euroland fast wichtiger geworden ist, als die Vorgaben der Wall Street. Ich mag mich irren, habe mir keine Korrelationen angeschaut. Aber irgendetwas tut sich. Irgendetwas ganz Großes verändert sich gerade.
Robert von Heusinger Die ZEIT, 10.3.06
Currencies
One More Surprise From Central Banks
By Marc Chandler
Street.com Contributor
1/13/2007 11:33 AM EST
In our age of transparency, monitoring the signals from the major central banks is not a full-time occupation. Wall Street used to hire people whose sole job was to mine the data and official comments for clues into policy. Such people now are among the endangered species. When one wants to contemplate the Federal Reserve's next move, one can consult the fed funds futures contract, where the accuracy of the front-month contract, especially as an FOMC meeting draws near, is unquestionable.
Other communities don't have comparable indicators for their central banks, and the rubber band that ties three-month money to overnight money is fairly elastic -- and thus less precise in deciphering policy expectations. Moreover, the three-month futures contracts, such as Euribor and short-sterling futures, are best understood not as three-month money but really as a forward rate agreement (FRA). If one were to take delivery of a March Euribor futures contract, one would receive a three-month time deposit for 1 million euros. Because we are now in the middle of January, the true comparison is a three-month rate in two and half months' time.
But the process of extrapolating policy from looking at the three-month futures contracts is even more difficult. If one were to take delivery of a three-month time deposit, one would want the interest rate to reflect the risk of a change in policy during the tenure of the time deposit. That is to say, in our example, the March Euribor futures should reflect some part of expectations for European Central Bank policy in the second quarter.
This is of particular interest now because of the Bank of Japan's upcoming meeting. A look at the actions and degree of clarity about recent policy of the Bank of England and European Central Bank sets the stage for handicapping the BoJ's confab and possible effects on currencies markets.
The Surprising Bank of England
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King once quipped that interest rate policy should be "boring." But in the past 18 months, U.K. interest rate policy has been anything but. Back in the summer of 2005, over his objections, the monetary policy committee decided to cut rates. I can't recall another major central bank where the governor was out-voted.
Last August the BOE caught the market wrongfooted when it hiked rates. The November '06 hike was largely anticipated, but Thursday's rate hike again surprised the market. With weakness in domestic demand, manufacturing and exports, the consensus had been for the BOE to stand pat awaiting more data. The market had discounted a hike next month.
The methodology of BOE officials offers little guidance to the market about their intentions. The institution's willingness to act without preparing the market stands in stark contrast to the tendencies of other central banks.
European Central Bank
That tendency particularly contrasts with the habits of its Continental neighbor, the European Central Bank. The ECB began the current rate hiking cycle in December '05. It was well-telegraphed, and since last spring ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet has used certain phrases that have become a tell, like a guy at a poker table playing with his wedding ring when he has a good hand.
The key word missing from Thursday's ECB press conference was "vigilant." In the past, Trichet has used this word to signal that a rate hike would come at the ECB's next meeting. Consequently the market realized that a February hike, which the consensus had previously assumed, was now less likely. At the same time, Trichet made it clear that the rate hiking cycle was not complete.
The market appears to have simply shifted its expectations for the next hike out to March. The March Euribor futures contract barely reacted. On a weekly close basis, the contract has been essentially unchanged at 96.08. This implies that a 25 basis-point rate hike is fully discounted, along with a high probability of another hike during the first quarter. The entire strip of Euribor futures contracts currently suggests that the market has a strong presumption that the ECB's tightening cycle will peak at 4%.
Trichet's failure to signal a hike next month did not really change market expectations much. The Bank of England's surprise was far more significant. The market has responded by assuming that the BoE's rate hike comes in addition to the other two rate hikes that were previously discounted. The March short-sterling futures have fallen 25 bp this week, as has the June contract. The British pound has been bid higher on this shift in interest-rate expectations, rallying 1.5% against the dollar. And it rallied more than 2% against the euro, reaching its best level in more than two years.
Bank of Japan
The Bank of Japan meets Jan. 17-18, and regardless of what it decides, it will be a surprise. There had previously been a strong consensus in favor of a hike, but that consensus has broken down in the face of a string of disappointing data and heightened political pressure from current and former government officials.
One news wire poll found that 19 of 35 respondents expected a hike, while another found that about two-thirds of those surveyed did. The press in Japan itself seems divided, which probably points to a division on the BoJ board itself.
The March Euroyen futures contract offers little help here. It has closed at an implied yield of 0.68 bp for three consecutive weeks, which is also what it has averaged for the last 50 sessions.
The case for a rate hike is based on the belief that the economic recovery remains intact, despite a softer-than-expected third quarter. Japan's growth is still heavily dependent on exports, so newfound confidence of a soft landing in the U.S. economy, its most important foreign market -- not only for exports but also for local production -- should also, on the margins, be favorable for Japan.
In addition, from a strategic perspective, the BoJ might be feeling a sense of urgency to continue to normalize monetary policy in order to gain room to maneuver without having to resort to extraordinary measures such as zero interest rates should the longest economic recovery since WWII's close end. And while the outcome of the BoJ's next meeting is a toss-up, the government is expected to tighten fiscal policy in the second half. Government officials have already indicated that tax hikes will be considered after the midyear Diet elections. A combination of tighter monetary and fiscal policy would provide a formidable headwind for Japan's economy.
However, given the political pressure that has been brought to bear, Bank of Japan officials may want cover in the form of stronger economic data before they raise rates again. A couple of BoJ officials have hinted that consumption may have picked up in the fourth quarter after a simply dismal third quarter, which may have been distorted by unseasonable weather patterns.
The Japanese government is set to release fourth-quarter GDP in the Feb. 12-15 period. It does seem reasonable to expect that growth picked up from the 0.8% annualized rate posted in the third quarter. Such a report might provide a more favorable environment in which the BoJ could hike at its next meeting on Feb. 20.
Knee-Jerk Reaction
The lack of a clear consensus warns that the currency market is likely to react regardless of what the BoJ decides at the end of next week. Ahead of the meeting, though, prudence warns that speculative players may reduce short yen positions. It would not be surprising to see the JPY121 area cap the dollar (incidentally, stops and options reportedly have been struck near that area), or for the greenback to ease toward JPY119-JPY119.30.
Ironically, it could very well be that the BoJ's hiking turns out more yen negative than standing pat. The thinking here is that the failure to raise rates will simply cause participants to shift their focus to February, while a rate hike gets the event out of the way. And then, at 50 bp, its overnight interest rate would still be low in relative and absolute terms.