Einschätzung: kurzfristig leicht bärisch [EUR/USD = 1,2225], mittelfristig bullisch.
New Economic Data Favor the DollarBy Marc Chandler
TheStreet.com
1/13/2006 4:15 PM EST
The new year has begun with a bang: Global equities have rallied, and bond markets generally have firmed. The dollar has slipped against most of the major currencies and regional Asian currencies. Emerging-market currencies in general are off to a good start, led by the South African rand (up about 5%) and the Brazilian real (about 3%).
There are two main imbalances in the U.S. economy that traders are concerned about: the large trade deficit and the slowing housing market. Ironically, examining the former helps shed light on the latter.
Strengthening exports and the boost this should provide for U.S. industrial output could offset the gradual slowing of the U.S. housing markets. Although the November trade deficit was the third-largest on record, the fact that it was well below expectations and that the October deficit was revised downward means that economists will likely revise upward preliminary fourth-quarter GDP [Bruttoinlandsprodukt, A.L.] forecasts. On balance, the recent data should raise investor confidence that the U.S. economy most likely recorded its 11th consecutive quarter, with GDP growth in excess of 3%.
Although the weaker-than-expected headline gain in the December nonfarm payroll report prompted handwringing in the doom-and-gloom camp, the market has managed to focus on the economic signal of the report and not the noise. The two important takeaways were the substantial upward revision to the November series and the unusually large number of people who could not find work because of weather considerations.
A rate hike at the January FOMC meeting, the last to be chaired by Alan Greenspan, is as done a deal as these things get. The real controversy has been over the outlook for the March meeting, Bernanke's first. On the basis of the recent batch of data, the market seems to be figuring there is a slightly greater chance that the FOMC will hike rates in March.
Moskow's Argument
Comments from Chicago Fed President Michael Moskow, who is a voting member of the FOMC, are very revealing. Many pundits try to pigeonhole central bankers as either hawks or doves. This can be misleading, as their views change with economic circumstances -- most of the time under Greenspan, Fed decisions were reached unanimously.
With that caveat in mind, Moskow clearly put himself in the more hawkish camp in late November, warning the market that the Fed may not stop raising rates at neutrality (when the U.S. federal funds rate neither stimulates nor restrains economic activity). Moskow amplified that message on Jan. 12.
Moskow made two points that, taken together, would seem to be more hawkish, especially given the data that have been released since his Nov. 21 speech. First, without specifying the range, he indicated that the current 4.25% fed funds target is the lower end of neutrality. Second, he reiterated that there is nothing sacrosanct about neutrality. Higher rates may be needed.
Moskow also expressed concern about what may turn out to be the key policy focus going forward: resource utilization. Essentially if the series of rate hikes since June 2004 has been about the normalization of U.S. monetary policy after the 2001 recession and deflation scare, then the next rate hikes may be directed to preempting the inflationary potential inherent in an economy without much slack.
Clearly, the U.S. economy is continuing to expand at a pace that is absorbing what spare capacity exists. Moreover, his economic forecast was consistent with the trend in the growth of the U.S. economy for the foreseeable future. He said the blue-chip survey consensus forecast that U.S. growth will average 3.25% for the next two years was "reasonable."
Although he has only one vote, Moskow likely speaks for others on the FOMC. By contrast, the president of the European Central Bank was not as hawkish as the market had expected after the ECB's decision to keep the key rate steady at 2.25%. In fact, some attribute the euro's slide following the meeting to Jean-Claude Trichet's acknowledgement of the downside risks to euro-zone growth prospects.
Similarly, Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui seemed to sound content to let the bank's extraordinarily accommodative policy continue for a while longer. Previously, the market was under the impression that he felt a greater urgency to reduce the amount of liquidity that the BOJ is pumping into the banking system.
Prospects for Weakness
The argument presented here does not exclude the possibility of additional near-term dollar losses. In fact, the risk is that the dollar's downside correction from its run-up from early September through mid-December has not completely run its course. Provided the euro continues to hold above the $1.20 level, where a central bank or two are thought to have an interest, the euro has near-term potential to hit $1.2225. Against the yen, the dollar could retest the 113.50 level.
Many emerging-market currencies also continue to look attractive. Asian currencies are in a win-win situation. Given the region's integration with the U.S. tech cycle, many investors view Asia as a leveraged way to play the U.S. cycle. Alternatively, if investors seek to diversify away from the U.S., Asian currencies also stand to gain on the premise that they are moving increasingly into China's economic orbit, or that they will do so over time.
The appreciation of Asian currencies has prompted expressions of concern by local officials, and there is talk that one or more central banks might have intervened to slow their currency's appreciation. Although such talk is unconfirmed, the $25 billion rise in the Federal Reserve's custody holdings provides some circumstantial evidence for it.
In this vein, the auction schedule of both the U.S. Treasury and corporate America suggests plenty of "product" in which to place official (and privately held) dollars. In the coming weeks, the U.S. will sell about $100 billion of new paper, including the reintroduced 30-year bond. As I've written before, corporate America is likely to issue a record amount of bonds this year, and they are being front-loaded. Already this year, U.S. corporations have sold about $40 billion worth of bonds.
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