Yesterday we took a look at the low-level of bond yields for this stage in the cycle and the US Treasury Note yield has fallen further since to 2.63%. Also I note that the 0.17% ten-year German bond yield is being described as being in interest-rate cut territory for Mario Draghi and the ECB. That raises a wry smile after all the media analysis of a rise. But it is a sign of something not being quite right in the financial system and it was joined last night by something else. It started relatively simply as people used “Holla Dolla” to describe US Dollar strength ( the opposite of how we entered 2018 if you recall) and I replied that there also seemed to be a “yen for Yen” too. So much so that I got ahead of the game.
For those who do not follow markets a strong Japanese Yen as illustrated below is usually a sign of what Taylor Swift would call "trouble,trouble,trouble" t.co/GA5Xls2RWY
— Shaun Richards (@notayesmansecon) January 2, 2019
What I was reflecting on at this point was the way that the Yen had strengthened since mid December from just under 114 to the US Dollar to the levels referred to in the tweet. For newer readers that matters on two counts. Firstly Japanese economic policy called Abenomics is geared towards driving the value of the Yen lower and an enormous amount of effort has been put into this, so a rally is domestically awkward. In a wider sweep it is also a sign of people looking for a safe haven – or more realistically foreign exchange traders front-running any perceived need for Mrs.Watanabe to repatriate her enormous investments/savings abroad – and usually accompanies falling equity markets.
The Flash Rally
I was much more on the ball than I realised as late last night this happened. From Reuters.
The Japanese yen soared in early Asian trading on Thursday as the break of key technical levels triggered massive stop-loss sales of the U.S. and Australian dollars in very thin markets. The dollar collapsed to as low as 105.25 yen on Reuters dealing JPY=D3, a drop of 3.2 percent from the opening 108.76 and the lowest reading since March 2018. It was last trading around 107.50 yen………..With risk aversion high, the safe-haven yen was propelled through major technical levels and triggered massive stop-loss flows from investors who have been short of the yen for months.
As you can see there was quite a surge in the Yen, or if you prefer a flash rally. If a big trade was happening which I will discuss later it was a clear case of bad timing as markets are thin at that time of day especially when Japan is in the middle of several bank holidays. But as it is in so many respects a control freak where was the Bank of Japan? I have reported many times on what it and the Japanese Ministry of Finance call “bold action” in this area but they appeared to be asleep at the wheel in this instance. Such a move was a clear case for the use of foreign exchange reserves due to the size and speed of the move,
There were also large moves against other currencies.
The Australian dollar tumbled to as low as 72.26 yen AUDJPY=D3 on Reuters dealing, a level not seen since late 2011, having started around 75.21. It was last changing hands at 73.72 yen.
The Aussie in turn sank against the U.S. dollar to as far as $0.6715 AUD=D3, the lowest since March 2009, having started around $0.6984. It was last trading at $0.6888.
Other currencies smashed against the yen included the euro, sterling and the Turkish lira.
There had been pressure on the Aussie Dollar and it broke lower against various currencies and we can bring in two routes to the likely cause. Yesterday we noted the latest manufacturing survey from China signalling more slowing and hence less demand for Australian resources which was followed by this. From CNBC.
Apple lowered its Q1 guidance in a letter to investors from CEO Tim Cook Wednesday.
Apple stock was halted in after-hours trading just prior to the announcement, and shares were down about 7 percent when trading resumed 20 minutes later.
This particular letter from America was not as welcome as the message Tim Cook sent only a day before.
Wishing you a New Year full of moments that enrich your life and lift up those around you. “What counts is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” — Nelson Mandela
So the economic slow down took a bite out of the Apple and eyes turned to resources demand and if the following is true we have another problem for the Bank of Japan.
“One theory is that may be Japanese retail FX players are forcing out of AUDJPY which is creating a liquidity vacuum,” he added. “This is a market dislocation rather than a fundamental event.”
Sorry but it is a fundamental event as Japanese retail investors are in Australian investments because they can get at least some yield after years and indeed decades on no yield in Japan. This is a direct consequence of Bank of Japan policy as was the move in the Turkish Lira which is explained by Yoshiko Matsuzaki.
This China news hit the EM ccys including Turkish lira where Mrs Watanabe are heavily long against Yen. I bet their stops were triggered in the thin market. Imagine to have TRYyen stops in this market.
So there you have it a development we have seen before or a reversal of a carry trade leading the Japanese Yen to soar. Even worse one caused by the policy response to the last carry trade blow-up! Or fixing this particular hole was delegated to the Beatles.
And it really doesn’t matter if I’m wrong
I’m right
Bank of England
It too had a poor night as whilst it is not a carry trade currency with Bank Rate a mere 0.75% the UK Pound £ took quite a knock against the Yen to around 132. Having done this we might reasonably wonder under what grounds the Bank of England would use the currency reserves it has gone to so much trouble to boost? From December 11th.
Actually the Bank of England has been building up its foreign exchange reserves in the credit crunch era and as of the end of October they amounted to US $115.8 billion as opposed as opposed to dips towards US $35 billion in 2009. So as the UK Pound £ has fallen we see that our own central bank has been on the other side of the ledger with a particular acceleration in 2015. I will leave readers to their own thoughts as to whether that has been sensible management or has weighed on the UK Pound £ or of course both?!
To my mind last nights move was certainly an undue fluctuation.
The EEA was established in 1932 to provide a fund which could be used for “checking undue fluctuations in the exchange value of sterling”.
It is an off world where extraordinary purchases of government bonds ( £435 billion) are accompanied by an apparent terror of foreign exchange intervention.
Comment
I have gone through this in detail because these sort of short-term explosive moves have a habit of being described as something to brush off when often they signal something significant. So let is go through some lessons.
- A consequence of negative interest-rates is that the Japanese investors have undertaken their own carry trade.
- The financial system is creaking partly because of point 1 and the ongoing economic slow down is not helping.
- Contrary to some reports the Euro was relatively stable and something of a safe haven as it behaved to some extent like a German currency might have. There is a lesson for economic theory about negative interest-rates especially when driven by a strong currency. Poor old economics 101 never seems to catch a break.
- All the “improvements” to the financial system seem if anything to have made things worse rather than better.
- Fast moves seem to send central banks into a panic meaning that they do not apply their own rules.
We cannot rule out that this was deliberate and please note the Yen low versus the US Dollar was 104.9 as you read the tweet below.
Japanese exporters had bought a lot of usd/jpy puts at year end with 105 KOs so now they are really screwed … ( @fxmacro )
Me on The Investing Channel