CAD
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH
1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BoC
At their Oct meeting the BoC surprised to put an early end to QE purchases and updated forward guidance to suggest an earlier lift off in rates by explaining that project economic slack to be absorbed by the middle quarters of 2022. The initial reaction was bullish as one would expect but the biggest risk to further upside for the CAD from here is the fact that a lot of these positives that was confirmed by the BoC has already been reflected in both the CAD and rates markets over the past few weeks. The CAD has seen a similar run to the upside back in 1Q21 with the BoC’s hawkish tilt, and similarly to that we feel current prices for rates and the CAD already reflect a great deal of the positives. Thus, even though the med-term outlook remains tilted to the upside for the CAD, there is the risk of seeing some unwind of the recent upside and is something to be mindful of when making any med-term allocations to the upside in the CAD.
2. Commodity-linked currency with dependency on Oil exports
Oil massive post-covid recovery continues on the back of three drivers: supply & demand (OPEC’s production cuts); improving global economic outlook and improving oil demand outlook, even though slightly pushed back by Delta concerns; rising inflation expectations. Even though further gains for Oil will arguably prove to be an uphill battle, the bias remains higher in the med-term as long as current supportive factors and drivers remains intact. There will of course be short-term ebbs and flows which could affect the CAD from an intermarket point of view, but as long as the med-term view for Oil remains higher it should be supportive for Petro-currencies like the CAD. OPEC seems content to stick to their plan to bring oil supply back gradually, by this past week deciding to bring the expected 400K barrels of supply online from next month. The one risk factor to watch for Oil is the pressure being placed on OPEC from the US administration to pump more oil in order to cool rising oil prices. Until now, OPEC have not been moved to cave to the US pressure, but there is the risk that Saudi Arabia buckles under the pressure and opts to push for higher production in the months ahead. Similarly, we also need to keep an eye on the US in the case they release some of their strategic reserves which should be a short-term headwind for Oil .
3. Developments surrounding the global risk outlook.
As a high-beta currency, the CAD benefited from the market's improving risk outlook coming out of the pandemic as participants moved out of safe-havens. As a pro-cyclical currency, the CAD enjoyed upside alongside other cyclical assets supported by reflation and post-recession recovery best. If expectations for the global economy remains positive the overall positive outlook for risk sentiment should be supportive for the CAD in the med-term , but recent short-term jitters are a timely reminder that risk sentiment is also a very important short-term driver.
4. CFTC Analysis
Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of +842 with a net non-commercial position of +4162. With a lot of positives in the price for the CAD and the front-end yields, it is encouraging to see that positioning isn’t stretched large specs or leveraged funds. That suggests that further upside could be possible if short-term sentiment for oil and risk assets remain favourable. However, since prices do look stretched, and since JPY positioning is very net-short, any sudden risk off bouts could see some decent mean reversion opportunities in CADJPY to the downside, especially if oil prices also come under pressure as falling oil prices will be a double positive for the JPY.
JPY
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH
1. Safe-haven status and overall risk outlook
As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver of JPY. Economic data rarely proves market moving; and although monetary policy expectations can prove highly market-moving in the short-term, safe-haven flows are typically the more dominant factor. The market's overall risk tone has improved considerably following the pandemic with good news about successful vaccinations, and ongoing monetary and fiscal policy support paved the way for markets to expect a robust global economic recovery. Of course, there remains many uncertainties and many countries are continuing to fight virus waves, but as a whole the outlook has kept on improving over the past couple of months, which would expect safe-haven demand to diminish and result in a bearish outlook for the JPY.
2. Low-yielding currency with inverse correlation to US10Y
As a low yielding currency, the JPY usually shares an inverse correlation to strong moves in yield differentials, more specifically in strong moves in US10Y . However, like most correlations, the strength of the inverse correlation between the JPY and US10Y is not perfect and will ebb and flow depending on the type of market environment from a risk and cycle point of view. With bond yields looking a bit stretched at the current levels any decent mean reversion is expected to be supportive for the JPY, so it remains a key asset class to keep track.
3. CFTC Analysis
Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of -588 with a net non-commercial position of -107624. The past few weeks of price action in the JPY was mostly driven by the excessive moves we saw in yields on the US side but was also exacerbated by risk on flows and rising oil prices which is a negative driver for Japan for its terms of trade. Even though the bias for the JPY remains firmly tilted to the downside, the moves across JPY pairs is arguably still looking stretched, and with both large speculators and leveraged funds firmly in net-short territory the odds of some mean reversion has increased. We would prefer waiting for some of the froth to mean revert before looking for new JPY shorts. As always, any major risk off flows can still support the JPY, especially with quite a sizable net-short position still built up in the currency for large speculators as well as leveraged funds, but rates have been the key driver in the short-term. The recent violent repricing in bond markets saw a huge push lower in yields that has supported the JPY, if that continues and we also see some risk off tones keep the stretched positioning in mind as it could see a big unwind if conditions align correctly.
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH
1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BoC
At their Oct meeting the BoC surprised to put an early end to QE purchases and updated forward guidance to suggest an earlier lift off in rates by explaining that project economic slack to be absorbed by the middle quarters of 2022. The initial reaction was bullish as one would expect but the biggest risk to further upside for the CAD from here is the fact that a lot of these positives that was confirmed by the BoC has already been reflected in both the CAD and rates markets over the past few weeks. The CAD has seen a similar run to the upside back in 1Q21 with the BoC’s hawkish tilt, and similarly to that we feel current prices for rates and the CAD already reflect a great deal of the positives. Thus, even though the med-term outlook remains tilted to the upside for the CAD, there is the risk of seeing some unwind of the recent upside and is something to be mindful of when making any med-term allocations to the upside in the CAD.
2. Commodity-linked currency with dependency on Oil exports
Oil massive post-covid recovery continues on the back of three drivers: supply & demand (OPEC’s production cuts); improving global economic outlook and improving oil demand outlook, even though slightly pushed back by Delta concerns; rising inflation expectations. Even though further gains for Oil will arguably prove to be an uphill battle, the bias remains higher in the med-term as long as current supportive factors and drivers remains intact. There will of course be short-term ebbs and flows which could affect the CAD from an intermarket point of view, but as long as the med-term view for Oil remains higher it should be supportive for Petro-currencies like the CAD. OPEC seems content to stick to their plan to bring oil supply back gradually, by this past week deciding to bring the expected 400K barrels of supply online from next month. The one risk factor to watch for Oil is the pressure being placed on OPEC from the US administration to pump more oil in order to cool rising oil prices. Until now, OPEC have not been moved to cave to the US pressure, but there is the risk that Saudi Arabia buckles under the pressure and opts to push for higher production in the months ahead. Similarly, we also need to keep an eye on the US in the case they release some of their strategic reserves which should be a short-term headwind for Oil .
3. Developments surrounding the global risk outlook.
As a high-beta currency, the CAD benefited from the market's improving risk outlook coming out of the pandemic as participants moved out of safe-havens. As a pro-cyclical currency, the CAD enjoyed upside alongside other cyclical assets supported by reflation and post-recession recovery best. If expectations for the global economy remains positive the overall positive outlook for risk sentiment should be supportive for the CAD in the med-term , but recent short-term jitters are a timely reminder that risk sentiment is also a very important short-term driver.
4. CFTC Analysis
Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of +842 with a net non-commercial position of +4162. With a lot of positives in the price for the CAD and the front-end yields, it is encouraging to see that positioning isn’t stretched large specs or leveraged funds. That suggests that further upside could be possible if short-term sentiment for oil and risk assets remain favourable. However, since prices do look stretched, and since JPY positioning is very net-short, any sudden risk off bouts could see some decent mean reversion opportunities in CADJPY to the downside, especially if oil prices also come under pressure as falling oil prices will be a double positive for the JPY.
JPY
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH
1. Safe-haven status and overall risk outlook
As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver of JPY. Economic data rarely proves market moving; and although monetary policy expectations can prove highly market-moving in the short-term, safe-haven flows are typically the more dominant factor. The market's overall risk tone has improved considerably following the pandemic with good news about successful vaccinations, and ongoing monetary and fiscal policy support paved the way for markets to expect a robust global economic recovery. Of course, there remains many uncertainties and many countries are continuing to fight virus waves, but as a whole the outlook has kept on improving over the past couple of months, which would expect safe-haven demand to diminish and result in a bearish outlook for the JPY.
2. Low-yielding currency with inverse correlation to US10Y
As a low yielding currency, the JPY usually shares an inverse correlation to strong moves in yield differentials, more specifically in strong moves in US10Y . However, like most correlations, the strength of the inverse correlation between the JPY and US10Y is not perfect and will ebb and flow depending on the type of market environment from a risk and cycle point of view. With bond yields looking a bit stretched at the current levels any decent mean reversion is expected to be supportive for the JPY, so it remains a key asset class to keep track.
3. CFTC Analysis
Latest CFTC data showed a positioning change of -588 with a net non-commercial position of -107624. The past few weeks of price action in the JPY was mostly driven by the excessive moves we saw in yields on the US side but was also exacerbated by risk on flows and rising oil prices which is a negative driver for Japan for its terms of trade. Even though the bias for the JPY remains firmly tilted to the downside, the moves across JPY pairs is arguably still looking stretched, and with both large speculators and leveraged funds firmly in net-short territory the odds of some mean reversion has increased. We would prefer waiting for some of the froth to mean revert before looking for new JPY shorts. As always, any major risk off flows can still support the JPY, especially with quite a sizable net-short position still built up in the currency for large speculators as well as leveraged funds, but rates have been the key driver in the short-term. The recent violent repricing in bond markets saw a huge push lower in yields that has supported the JPY, if that continues and we also see some risk off tones keep the stretched positioning in mind as it could see a big unwind if conditions align correctly.