FX News

Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass 52.95 million with over 1,296,000 official deaths. 

Trump has refused to concede defeat just yet in the 2020 US Election preferring to kick off a large-scale litigation process in efforts to reverse vote counts in several key states. The first state to have its voter count fully audited is Georgia. Georgia’s secretary of state announced on Wednesday that the state would conduct a full audit of the US Election voter result by doing a full recount by hand of the millions of ballots cast. The margin is so close in the state which Biden is holding by around 12,000 votes majority. Democrats say there is no actual evidence of widespread fraud in the election as no state or county has reported any inaccuracy of the vote count specifically. The legal process and any likely outcome will take weeks, possibly months to be made official. 

Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass 51.22 million with over 1,268,000 official deaths.

The US Election has extended past election day as we wait for an official winner and outcome.  Is a win by Joe Biden and the Democrat Party imminent or are we to see weeks of President Trump Republican voter fraud claims play out in the courts with much delay. In the 11th hour Joe Biden had massive comebacks in the key states of Pennsylvania and Georgia – some say ballot foul play was at hand. Markets however seemed to embrace the new possible reality of a Democrat victory but with a long drawn out legal process underway a proper result could take weeks. Voter turnout certainly had no positive outcome in the battle against coronavirus with the virus spreading at a rate of over 100,000 per day recently with health experts expecting these figures to double. New lockdowns will be brought back which will paralyse the US economy again detrimentally affecting the economy for the rest of the year and possibly into 2021. Any such potential uncertainty in the US Election could make markets nervous and send the kiwi and Aussie lower, although most scenarios have already been well priced in.  

Monday 09/11

• 1135pm, GBP, BOE Gov Bailey Speaks

Wednesday 11/11

• 2pm, NZD, Official Cash Rate
• Forecast 0.25%
• Previous 0.25%
• 2pm, NZD, RBNZ, Monetary Policy Statement
• 2pm, NZD, RBNZ Rate Statement
• 3pm, NZD, RBNZ Press Conference
• All Day, EUR, French Bank Holiday

Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass 48.3 million with over 1,228,000 official deaths.

Key Points:
The US Election hangs in the balance this morning, perhaps with an edge to Biden in the race to become President. Currently Biden is sitting on 253 electorate votes while the President sits on 213, 270 electoral votes are needed for victory. There are 6 states which are too close to call. My call on it is,- if Trump wins Nevada he will win the presidency. As votes continue to be counted President Trump has made legal claims on the legitimacy of the ballot counts in at least 4 states.
Equity markets are up overnight the fourth straight day of rises – the Nasdaq gaining over 2.5%

Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass 47.28 million with over 1,210,000 official deaths.

It’s a massive week of economic data, the biggest we have seen in a long time. Most notably the US Election Wednesday, we published a piece on this yesterday for anyone who is interested. The Melbourne Cup is later today just after the Australian Cash Rate announcement.

Just a note to clients- tomorrow as US Elections results start flowing in our market liquidity providers will be pricing accordingly to allow for wider/ volatile market conditions. If you have currency to move it may be best to do this in the morning or later in the week when market liquidity conditions return to normal trading conditions.    

I would like to preface this by saying the below analysis is in no way meant as a commentary or opinion on the performance, or personality, of President Trump. The purpose of this piece is to highlight what we think are some major shortcomings in many articles and forecasts around the outcome of the impending US election. Those shortcomings steam from a collection of polls over recent weeks that look to be wildly inaccurate. We would like to bring some balance into the discussion so clients with impending FX exposure can better manage the potential risks around expected outcomes.

Tuesday 03/11

• 4am, USD, ISM Manufacturing PMI
  • Forecast 55.6
  • Previous 55.4
• All Day, JPY, Bank Holiday
• 430pm, AUD, Cash Rate
  • Forecast 0.10%
  • Previous 0.25%
• 430pm, AUD, RBA Rate Statement

Wednesday 04/11

• All Day, Presidential Election
• 1045am, NZD, Employment Change q/q
  • Forecast -0.70%
  • Previous -0.40%
• 1045am, NZD, Unemployment Rate
  • Forecast 5.50%
  • Previous 4.00%

Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass 45.3 million with over 1,185,000 official deaths.

        Key Points:

• Angela Merkel confirmed this week that the goal of the latest wave of pandemic measures was to reduce contact of people who don’t live together by 75% in efforts to return to a level of fewer than 50 or less cases per 100,000 people. Merkel is hoping the plan will work by the end of November. 
• US stimulus talks between the Democrats and Republicans are dead but not buried with negotiations most likely to resume post the US election
• US new confirmed coronavirus cases set a new single day record of more than 83,400
• US third quarter GDP comes in at 33.0% up from estimates of 31.0% 
• Coronavirus in France is becoming dire with full lockdowns considered for 3 major cities – Paris, Lyon and Marseille
• NZ third quarter job ads are down 9.9% 

Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass 43.7 million with over 1,164,000 official deaths.

        Key Points:

• Equity markets have been hit hard as uncertainty and worry runs high in the US Election. If President Trump loses the election this will create a pullback in equity trading as investors exit long positions.
• US stimulus talks between the Dems and Republicans are dead but not buried negotiations most likely to resume post the US election
• US President Trump plans to dispute the election results if he loses, currently he is was behind in the polls
• The US grips for an explosion of coronavirus fresh infections
• NZ CPI prints at 0.7% slightly down from the forecasted 0.9%
• The Oxford Covid-19 trials has produced a strong immune response in the health of the elderly, the group which is at highest risk from the disease
• Coronavirus in France is becoming dire with full lockdowns considered for 3 major cities – Paris, Lyon and Marseille
• The RBA said they would cut the cash rate to 0.10% at the November 3rd meeting

Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass 41.9 million with over 1,142,000 official deaths.

Deep into weekly trading, markets seem to be hanging off developments in the US Fiscal stimulus negotiations for answers. Movement has been all about where things lie in the negotiations, late Thursday things seem to still be up in the air with investors mostly positive the situation should end well. Over the past few sessions the US Dollar weakened as the Democrats and Republicans drew nearer to a second massive fiscal agreement to assist US businesses and households get through the coronavirus pandemic. Risk markets have been up and down, equity indices fluctuating as Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and Nancy Pelosi headed into the latest round of discussions. Headline news reports that negotiations are moving in a favourable direction. The kiwi and Aussie currencies recovered off recent lows, but the way things have been going this week a risk off mood can develop very quickly should negotiations take a turn for the worst.