Post date: 15/04/2019 09:00
Perhaps the biggest news of last week was the agreement to postpone Brexit until October 31st. However, markets seemed to have priced in the outcome entirely, and Sterling did not react strongly to the news. Neither the ECB April meeting nor the publication of the minute from the Fed March meeting shed much light on the mindset of either central bank. The mild improvement in economic news out of the Eurozone buoyed European currencies, and the prospects for a US-China trade deal buoyed most emerging market currencies.
Next week the critical April PMI surveys of business activity for the Eurozone come out on Thursday. With mostly second tier data out of the US and Brexit on temporary hold we would expect most G10 FX volatility to be seen in reaction to this data.
GBP
Theresa May agreed with the EU to extend the Brexit deadline to October 31st, and hence to participate in the European Elections in May. This week, we expect economic data to finally receive some attention now that the Brexit issue is temporarily postponed. Tuesday’s labor report and Wednesday’s inflation data will give us some key, albeit lagged insight into how well the UK economy is navigating the uncertainty around Brexit.
EUR
The absence of any meaningful policy announcements at the ECB April meeting provided a badly needed boost for the Euro. Although communications from the central bank had a distinctly dovish tilt, it seems that for now no news out of the Eurozone means good news for the Euro. The common currency also took some comfort from better than expected industrial production data. Thursday’s PMI flash POMI data for April seem particularly critical to us, and we expect them to surprise to the upside, confirming that the slowdown in industrial production is due mostly to one-off factors that are now clearing up.
USD
The release of the minutes from April’s Federal reserve meeting did little to explain the sharp dovish turn in Fed thinking since late last year. Members remain puzzled by quiescent inflation, and the modest downward surprise in March CPI numbers published last week will not help them. The Fed remains on hold for the foreseeable future, and the combination of steady worldwide growth and low rates in developed countries is a potent mix for an emerging market currency rally.
