CAD CHF - FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERS
CAD
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH
1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BoC
At their September meeting the BoC delivered on market expectations by not providing any new information. The bank acknowledged the recent hit to growth has been bigger than expected, but also explained that they deem the hit to be temporary and still expect solid growth this year. They also reiterated that even though inflation is currently high and expected to climb, they deem current price pressures as being mostly transitory. Right now the meeting did nothing to change the market’s expectations that the bank will go ahead to announce another tapering of C$1 billion at their October meeting, especially after this past week’s jobs report painting a picture of a growing and recovering labour market, albeit at a slightly slower pace compared to the June and July.
2. Commodity-linked currency with dependency on Oil exports
Oil staged a massive recovery after hitting rock bottom in 2020. The move higher over the past few months has been driven by supply & demand (OPEC’s production cuts); improving global economic outlook and improving oil demand outlook (vaccines and monetary and fiscal stimulus induced recoveries); rising inflation expectations. Even though further gains for Oil will arguably prove to be an uphill battle from here, the bias remains positive in the med-term as long as the current supportive factors and drivers remains intact. We will of course have short-term ebbs and flows as we’ve seen in recent weeks which could affect the CAD from an intermarket point of view, but as long as the med-term view for Oil remains higher that should be supportive for Petro-currencies like the CAD.
3. Developments surrounding the global risk outlook.
As a high-beta currency, CAD has benefited from the market's improving risk outlook over recent months as participants moved out of safehavens and into riskier, higher-yielding assets. As a pro-cyclical currency, the CAD enjoyed upside alongside other cyclical assets going into what majority of market participants think was an early post-recession recovery phase. As long as 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 the recent short-term jitters and risk off flows once again showed us why risk sentiment is also a very important short-term driver for the currency.
4. CFTC Analysis
Latest CFTC data for the CAD (updated until 7 Sep) showed a positioning change of -3162 with a net non-commercial position of -6010. After some substantial unwinding of oversubscribed net-long positioning over the past couple of months, we’ve now seen CAD positioning move into net-short territory, and since the bias is still bullish in the med-term that means there is a lot of room left to run to the upside in line with the overall bullish fundamentals. As the market’s view on tapering expectations for October is in tact we might see CAD trade more sensitive to overall risk sentiment and Oil price action compared to the monetary policy outlook.
CHF
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH
1. Developments surrounding the global risk outlook.
As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver for the CHF. Swiss economic data rarely proves market moving; and although SNB intervention can have a substantial impact on CHF, its impact tends to be relatively short-lived. Additionally, the SNB are unlikely to adjust policy anytime soon, given their overall bearish tone and a preference for being behind the ECB in terms of policy decisions. The market's overall risk tone is improving with coronavirus vaccines being rolled out as well as the unprecedented amount of monetary policy accommodation and fiscal support from governments. Of course, risks remain as many countries are now battling third waves of the virus. As such, there is still a degree of uncertainty and risks to the overall risk outlook which could prove supportive for the CHF should negative factors for the global economy develop; however, on balance the overall risk outlook is continuing to improve and barring any major meltdowns in risk assets the bias for the CHF remains bearish.
2. SNB Intervention
Despite the negative drivers, the CHF has remained surprisingly strong over the past couple of weeks. This divergence from the fundamental outlook doesn’t make much sense, but the CHF often has a mind of its own and can often move in opposite directions from what short-term sentiment or its fundamental outlook suggests, thus be careful when trading the CHF and always keep the possibility of SNB intervention in mind. In a recent note ING investment provided their rationale for the recent strength in the CHF and suggests that the lower inflation in Switzerland compared to the EU means the real trade-weighted CHF is trading too cheap. Furthermore, the ECB’s bond buying has meant that their balance sheet is expanding more rapidly compared to that of the SNB, which could have been reasons why the SNB did not see the need for any meaningful intervention lately. However, as intervention is always the possibility it’s a risk to always keep in mind when trading the CHF.
3. CFTC Analysis
Latest CFTC data for the CHF (updated until 7 Sep) showed a positioning change of -3755 with a net non-commercial position of +220. The CHF positioning continued to unwind some of its recent surprising strength over the past few weeks. The CHF still the third largest net-long positioning among the majors, which is at odds with the current fundamental bearish outlook for the currency. Even though we expect the currency to weaken in the med-term, any drastic escalation in risk off tones could still continue to provide support for the safe-haven currency.
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BULLISH
1. The Monetary Policy outlook for the BoC
At their September meeting the BoC delivered on market expectations by not providing any new information. The bank acknowledged the recent hit to growth has been bigger than expected, but also explained that they deem the hit to be temporary and still expect solid growth this year. They also reiterated that even though inflation is currently high and expected to climb, they deem current price pressures as being mostly transitory. Right now the meeting did nothing to change the market’s expectations that the bank will go ahead to announce another tapering of C$1 billion at their October meeting, especially after this past week’s jobs report painting a picture of a growing and recovering labour market, albeit at a slightly slower pace compared to the June and July.
2. Commodity-linked currency with dependency on Oil exports
Oil staged a massive recovery after hitting rock bottom in 2020. The move higher over the past few months has been driven by supply & demand (OPEC’s production cuts); improving global economic outlook and improving oil demand outlook (vaccines and monetary and fiscal stimulus induced recoveries); rising inflation expectations. Even though further gains for Oil will arguably prove to be an uphill battle from here, the bias remains positive in the med-term as long as the current supportive factors and drivers remains intact. We will of course have short-term ebbs and flows as we’ve seen in recent weeks which could affect the CAD from an intermarket point of view, but as long as the med-term view for Oil remains higher that should be supportive for Petro-currencies like the CAD.
3. Developments surrounding the global risk outlook.
As a high-beta currency, CAD has benefited from the market's improving risk outlook over recent months as participants moved out of safehavens and into riskier, higher-yielding assets. As a pro-cyclical currency, the CAD enjoyed upside alongside other cyclical assets going into what majority of market participants think was an early post-recession recovery phase. As long as 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 the recent short-term jitters and risk off flows once again showed us why risk sentiment is also a very important short-term driver for the currency.
4. CFTC Analysis
Latest CFTC data for the CAD (updated until 7 Sep) showed a positioning change of -3162 with a net non-commercial position of -6010. After some substantial unwinding of oversubscribed net-long positioning over the past couple of months, we’ve now seen CAD positioning move into net-short territory, and since the bias is still bullish in the med-term that means there is a lot of room left to run to the upside in line with the overall bullish fundamentals. As the market’s view on tapering expectations for October is in tact we might see CAD trade more sensitive to overall risk sentiment and Oil price action compared to the monetary policy outlook.
CHF
FUNDAMENTAL BIAS: BEARISH
1. Developments surrounding the global risk outlook.
As a safe-haven currency, the market's risk outlook is the primary driver for the CHF. Swiss economic data rarely proves market moving; and although SNB intervention can have a substantial impact on CHF, its impact tends to be relatively short-lived. Additionally, the SNB are unlikely to adjust policy anytime soon, given their overall bearish tone and a preference for being behind the ECB in terms of policy decisions. The market's overall risk tone is improving with coronavirus vaccines being rolled out as well as the unprecedented amount of monetary policy accommodation and fiscal support from governments. Of course, risks remain as many countries are now battling third waves of the virus. As such, there is still a degree of uncertainty and risks to the overall risk outlook which could prove supportive for the CHF should negative factors for the global economy develop; however, on balance the overall risk outlook is continuing to improve and barring any major meltdowns in risk assets the bias for the CHF remains bearish.
2. SNB Intervention
Despite the negative drivers, the CHF has remained surprisingly strong over the past couple of weeks. This divergence from the fundamental outlook doesn’t make much sense, but the CHF often has a mind of its own and can often move in opposite directions from what short-term sentiment or its fundamental outlook suggests, thus be careful when trading the CHF and always keep the possibility of SNB intervention in mind. In a recent note ING investment provided their rationale for the recent strength in the CHF and suggests that the lower inflation in Switzerland compared to the EU means the real trade-weighted CHF is trading too cheap. Furthermore, the ECB’s bond buying has meant that their balance sheet is expanding more rapidly compared to that of the SNB, which could have been reasons why the SNB did not see the need for any meaningful intervention lately. However, as intervention is always the possibility it’s a risk to always keep in mind when trading the CHF.
3. CFTC Analysis
Latest CFTC data for the CHF (updated until 7 Sep) showed a positioning change of -3755 with a net non-commercial position of +220. The CHF positioning continued to unwind some of its recent surprising strength over the past few weeks. The CHF still the third largest net-long positioning among the majors, which is at odds with the current fundamental bearish outlook for the currency. Even though we expect the currency to weaken in the med-term, any drastic escalation in risk off tones could still continue to provide support for the safe-haven currency.
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