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UK referendum: Blame the weather, not Brussels

The outcome of today’s crucial UK referendum on EU membership will partly depend on how many of the 46.5 million registered voters cast their postal votes and turn up today at voting booths which opened at 07.00 (UK time) and will close at 22:00.

Opinions polls have concluded that a lower voter turnout today would favour the Leave vote while a higher turnout would favour the Remain vote. 

But intentions to vote are not the same as actually ticking the ballot box. Bad weather is more likely to keep people at home and turnout low, favouring the Leave vote while dry weather would in theory encourage people to vote, in turn favouring the Remain camp.

There have so far today been scattered showers across the UK and the Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for the East of England, London and South-East England, with predictions of thundery showers throughout the day.

However, the Financial Times is reporting that in many parts of London there are long queues at several polling stations and the Met Office is forecasting largely dry and cloudy weather elsewhere in the UK.

It is somewhat ironic that the unpredictable British weather, a favourite topic of conversation, could potentially change the British economic landscape for years to come.

The consensus expectation is that if the UK votes to remain in the EU, sterling, UK equities and to an extent the euro and global equities will rally sharply. But this rally could start to fade after a few days, as markets refocus on global data and events and the British turn their attention to the all-important matter of the Euro 2016 championships and perennial question of whether Andy Murray can win a second Wimbledon title.  

But acute uncertainty and market volatility would likely persist for weeks and potentially months should the leave camp win today’s referendum, particularly if it wins by only a very narrow margin and/or turnout is low. Read more

UK: Land of Hope & Glory…but mostly Confusion

The lyrics of Genesis’ 1986 hit “Land of Confusion” were penned over 30 years ago, with the English rock band satirising Ronald Reagan’s US presidency (see Figure 1). Specifically, they allude to the confusion fuelled by opportunist politicians in a fast-changing world beset by acute challenges. But, in my view, they portray with uncanny accuracy the UK in 2017 as Prime Minister Theresa May and her government, Parliament and the Bank of England feel their way towards Brexit. Read more

UK General Election Scenario Analysis Impact on Policy, Theresa May and Sterling

In less than 24 hours the British electorate will start voting in the election for the 650-seat House of Commons with the result expected early in the morning of Friday 9th June.

While the last general election was only held two years ago, there is arguably as much if not more at stake this time round than in May 2015.

Opinion polls still point to the ruling Conservatives winning a record-high 44% of the national vote ahead of the opposition Labour Party, but polling agencies which in the past have misestimated true voting intentions still display great inconsistency.

Ultimately it is the number of seats which British parties command which matters and the UK’s first-past-the-post electoral system makes it difficult to predict.

You Gov’s constituency-specific model forecasts the Conservatives winning only 304 seats as a result of a record number of “wasted” votes, a 26-seat loss and well short of both a working and absolute majority. Labour would increase its seat numbers from 229 to 266.

This would result in a hung parliament and either a coalition or minority government.

My own model points to the Conservatives winning around 360 seats (55.4% of total) and Labour 212 seats. Admittedly, this prediction is based on a number of assumptions, namely the net share of votes which Conservatives gain from other parties as well as voter turnout.

Whether the Conservatives significantly improve on their current 330 seats or fail to secure a parliamentary majority remains a tough call and there is an almost infinite number of possible outcomes.

However, I have narrowed down in Figure 10 the number of seats the Conservatives could win to eight possible scenarios, in each case assessing i) Their probability; ii) Their numerical impact on the Conservatives’ majority (or lack thereof); and iii) The risk of opposition parties and/or Conservative backbenchers high-jacking the policy agenda.

Figure 11 assesses for each of the eight scenarios their likely impact on iv) Theresa May’s standing within the Conservative Party and v) Sterling and currency volatility.

Regardless of what happens tomorrow, two events beyond British shores also scheduled for 8th June – the ECB’s policy meeting and Former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee – will conceivably exacerbate Sterling volatility.
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UK inching towards Brexit

British Prime Minister Theresa May will make a speech on Tuesday 17th January in which she will set out in greater details her plans for the UK’s exit from the EU.

There have been few signs that she is willing to tone down her mantra of the UK regaining control over immigration in exchange for a bespoke trading deal with the EU which may exclude access to the Single Market.

If Theresa May sticks to her guns next week I would expect Sterling to weaken further.

A sell-off in Sterling could be partly curbed if Prime Minister May agrees more explicitly to a transition agreement whereby the UK still retains some of the benefits of EU membership even after the UK has officially left the EU.

If MPs perceive Theresa May’s speech as insufficiently detailed or it is not backed up with a detailed and formal government white paper, parliament may decide to delay or even scupper the process by which Article 50 is triggered.

This would at the margin increase the perceived odds of the UK remaining in the EU and may provide some relief for Sterling.

However, I would view this as only a temporary reprieve as ultimately the government has a popular mandate for the UK to leave the EU.

The apparent resilience of British economic growth since the June referendum has given weight to the arguments that the economy can easily weather the UK’s exit from the EU and that the British government is in a strong negotiating position.

However, the risk now is perhaps that too much confidence is being placed in the British economy’s ability to weather a number of possible forthcoming challenges. Read more

Barbarians at the Sterling Gate

Sterling’s collapse overnight has eclipsed somewhat tepid US labour market data.

The net result is that the Sterling NEER has weakened a further 2% since yesterday and is now down about 20% since November 2015.

While trading desks will have a far better grasp of how risk management systems and liquidity contributed to sterling’s drop, recent political decisions and UK data clearly helped set the scene and will leave the currency vulnerable going forward.

Theresa May’s government and EU leaders have in recent weeks successively dismantled the raft of hopeful predictions which had helped Sterling stabilise over the summer.

Moreover, there is growing evidence that a more competitive Sterling has not translated into materially stronger UK industrial output or exports, with the UK’s trade deficit in goods and services widening in recent months

I would reiterate my view, expressed in early July, that the uncertainty associated with the UK’s possible exit from the EU will likely continue to weigh on the UK economy and currency.

This week’s fall in sterling, if anything, has reinforced my view that the Bank of England will maintain a dovish rhetoric but for now refrain from cutting its policy rate to zero or expanding its current QE program.

Moreover I would not expect the BoE to intervene in the FX market to support sterling at this stage. Read more

Federal Reserve – the Father Christmas of central banks

Thursday’s Fed policy meeting contained few major surprises, even if the divide amongst FOMC members has received much attention.

The bottom line is that 14 out of the 17 FOMC members, and at a minimum 7 of the 10 voting members, estimate that at least one 25bp rate hike before year-end would be appropriate.

Should the Fed hike in December – currently my core scenario – this almost unprecedented glacial pace of hikes would be in line with my January forecast of only 1-2 hikes in 2016.

The Fed’s accompanying statement and Yellen’s press conference were, if anything, reasonably upbeat. There were no direct allusions to the dollar, property, equity and bond markets or to global factors, with some justification (for now at least).

The Fed’s two main concerns are squarely centred on sub-target inflation and areas of weakness in the labour market.

It will thus be paying particular attention (and so should markets) to evidence of slack in the US labour market, with the unemployment rate becoming a less useful measure per se of labour market strength and potential wage/price pressures, in my view.

The Fed is clearly giving weight to the historically low neutral Fed funds rate. Even so FOMC members may have to further tone down their 2017-2018 estimates of the appropriate policy rate in relation to realistic (if still a little optimistic) economic forecasts.

Financial markets’ reaction has so far been mostly text-book: a jump in market pricing for a December hike to 16bp, a bull-flattening of the US yield curve, a slightly weaker dollar, a rally in EM and commodity currencies and stronger global equities.

But now comes the hard part. Volatility in Fed fund futures is likely to remain fluid in coming weeks, with financial markets increasingly sensitive to key US data, particularly on inflation and labour markets, speeches by FOMC members and presidential opinion polls.

Should Clinton win the US elections, US data improve and the Fed hike in December, I would expect the dollar to end the year stronger, EM currencies and global equities to struggle to hold onto post-US election gains and major currencies to underperform.

The more problematic scenario for the Fed (and its credibility) is one whereby Donald Trump wins and/or US economic activity slows down.  

This would likely cause a sharp sell-off in global equities while safe-haven assets (e.g. gold, Swiss Franc) would outperform the dollar and in particular EM currencies. Moreover, these moves could struggle to reverse even if the Fed decided to pause in December. Read more

UK economy post referendum – for richer, but mostly for poorer

We may well never know the true extent of the impact of the EU referendum outcome on the British economy, markets and ultimately standards of living. This may not be the most satisfying conclusion, but this uncertainty is one which policy-makers will have to grapple with.

As to the bigger question of whether the UK is better off today or will be better off in years to come when one takes into account not only the impact on the economy but also broader, less tangible issues such as sovereignty, the answer is and will likely remain even more subjective.

In any case, available data paint a patchy picture of the UK economy post-referendum. Construction and services have been harder hit than manufacturing. Retail sales were strong in July thanks in part to a robust labour market and plentiful lending. While this defies the collapse in consumer confidence temporary factors may also have been at play.

The residential property market at a national level has been softer but resilient post referendum. Mortgage lending remains depressed but government policies are for now more likely to blame. The commercial property market has been harder hit.

Sterling’s 10% collapse since the referendum, following a 10% depreciation between November and June, is seemingly supporting economic growth and demand for UK assets even if history suggests that it is no panacea. Its inflationary impact has so far been very modest but the risk is a squeeze on profit margins and real wages.

At the same time sterling’s collapse has tangibly eroded the UK’s net wealth, at least when expressed in foreign-currency terms – a fact largely ignored by policy-makers and the media.

I would expect the BoE to continue favouring monetary and credit policies which explicitly help spur lending, spending and investment and, implicitly at least, help cap sterling. While this may not translate into another policy rate cut or round of QE near-term, the BoE is likely to keep this option firmly on the table if the UK economy fails to return to trend in the next six months.

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Europe: The Final Countdown

On Thursday 23rd June, the British electorate will hold arguably the most important vote in a generation, with the result of the UK referendum on EU membership due to be announced on Friday.

The latest opinion polls have the remain camp slightly ahead and bookmakers attribute a 75% probability of the UK voting to stay in the EU. But caution is warranted as opinion polls have swung back and forth in recent weeks. Turnout, and therefore the weather, may be a critical factor with a high turnout likely to favour the leave vote.

I am nevertheless sticking to my long-held view that the British electorate will vote for continuity and for the UK remain in the EU.

The popular assumption is that after the referendum UK markets and global risk appetite will move in clear directions. This belief is likely to be tested, particularly if the British electorate votes in favour of brexit as the government is not legally bound to the referendum result.

Specifically, the consensus expectation – which I share to a degree – is that if the UK votes to remain in the EU, sterling, UK equities and to an extent the euro and global equities will rally sharply. But this rally could start to fade after a few days, with “business-as-usual” resuming.

Conversely, the over-riding view is that sterling and global risk appetite will weaken, potentially very sharply, in the days following a vote for the UK to leave the EU.

Importantly I see six potential sources of uncertainty and a number of possible scenarios (see Figure 6), particularly if the leave camp wins by only a very narrow margin and/or turnout is low.  Market volatility could thus persist for weeks and potentially months, keeping sterling and UK equities on the back foot:

  1. Prime Minister Cameron’s future;
  2. The risk of the British government ignoring the referendum result;
  3. The risk of the British parliament ignoring the referendum vote, the government re-negotiating a deal on the UK’s membership to the EU and holding another referendum;
  4. The risk of a second Scottish independence referendum;
  5. The risk of a protracted UK exit from the EU leaving the door open to a decision reversal; and
  6. The re-negotiation of new trade treaties.

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It’s oh so quiet…for now

Frequent u-turns in the Fed’s policy stance, central banks’ lack of monetary policy credibility, currency wars and gyrations in macro data are being blamed for financial market volatility and record lows in government bond yields. The forthcoming EU referendum has also buffeted UK financial markets.

But on the whole, financial markets and macro data have since 1 April showed a far greater degree of stability than in preceding quarters.

US interest rate, equity and currency markets have weathered the gyrations in the Fed’s policy stance and the ebbs and flows in US data. German and Japanese government bond yields have fallen but ultimately been less volatile than in Q1. The World Equity Index has also been constrained in a reasonably narrow range, thanks at least in part to signs that global GDP growth stabilised in Q1.

This relative stability has not been confined to the dollar. So far, Q2 2016 has been the least volatile quarter since January 2015 – as defined by the low-high range using daily data – for most major nominal effective exchange rates (NEERs). These include developed and EM currencies, as well as commodity and non-commodity currencies. Among G7 currencies, the euro NEER has been particularly stable in a 2.1% range.

The picture is also one of relative calm in emerging markets, with the pick-up in foreign capital inflows in April and June and in commodity prices since March helping to stabilise EM currencies without central banks having to draw on still significant FX reserves.

Commodity prices, including crude oil, have risen sharply so far in Q2 but their volatility has remained in line with historical standards, particularly in recent weeks. This has contributed to greater stability in commodity currencies, with the exception of the Australian dollar.

If anything, this lack of directionality has forced financial market players to be light-footed and adopt short-term tactical strategies. The question now is whether this relative calm is here to stay or whether it augurs more violent corrections as was the case earlier this year.

The UK referendum on EU accession has the potential to be far more destabilising to financial markets than the BoJ’s policy meeting on 16 June and in particular the Fed’s meeting the day before. While UK markets would likely feel the brunt of a decision to leave the EU, the euro would also likely weaken and global equity markets conceivably sell off.

The Fed’s policy meeting on 27th July could also prove disruptive at a time of potentially reduced summer-liquidity. Read more

What to expect in 2016 – same, same, but worse

Trading on Fear

It is clear that markets so far this year are trading on sentiment, more specifically fear, with hard-data playing second fiddle. Or more accurately, price action suggests that markets are focusing on disappointing December numbers (e.g. US ISM) or even reasonably uneventful data (Chinese manufacturing PMI) and ignoring strong data such as U.S non-farm payrolls, Chinese services PMI and exports (see Figure 1).  The hit-and-miss approach of Chinese policy-makers to stabilise equity markets (and ultimately growth) have done little to restore confidence. I nevertheless flag in Figure 37 some of the key data and events to focus on this year. Read more

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