Market Quick Take - May 5, 2020 Market Quick Take - May 5, 2020 Market Quick Take - May 5, 2020

Market Quick Take - May 5, 2020

Macro 3 minutes to read
Picture of Steen Jakobsen
Steen Jakobsen

Chief Investment Officer

Summary:  Equities recovered from their weak performance early yesterday and were up again overnight as much of Asia was closed for holiday and the USD and EUR eased lower again. It will be interesting to watch the European equities today after a very weak close yesterday, and as the German constitutional court is set to rule on the legality of the ECB purchase programme.


What is our trading focus?

  • US500.I (S&P 500 Index) and USNAS100.I (Nasdaq 100 Index) – after a steep sell-off that continued in early Monday hours, the US equity markets have bounced hard and taken the high-beta Nasdaq 100 back beyond the 50% retracement of the sell-off, with the next focus on the 61.8% at 8920. The broader and less buoyant S&P500 index has not yet reached its 50% retracement at 2868, with the 61.8% up at 2890.
  • GER30.I (DAX Index) – the leading German stock index is fighting to close the Monday opening gap vs. Friday’s close at 10,851. Today’s decision of the German constitutional court at 0800 GMT is key risk for whether the rebound can continue but otherwise it’s a day of flows as no important macro figures are out in Europe today.
  • USDCNH – things have gone quiet again in USDCNH after a large Friday surge higher that was difficult to interpret with China out on holiday through today. With rising US-China tensions, however, this most important of exchange rates bears watching as a sign of any possible intent by China to devalue the renminbi to beyond 7.20 versus the USD.
  • AUDUSD – the AUDUSD remains the FX trader’s way to trade risk appetite and bounced in line with US Tech stocks overnight and after an RBA meeting that produced nothing of note. The key resistance level for whether the bears can maintain their current tactical case is the psychological 0.6500 level, just above the 61.8% retracement of the sell-off.
  • 10YBTPJun20 – the Italian June, 10-year sovereign bond (BTP) future: The German constituational court is set to rule on the legality of the ECB’s asset purchase programme. In the past, this court’s decisions have raised considerable attention, especially during the EU sovereign debt crisis, but in the end there was no decisive showdown and a ruling against ECB activities would send the government scrambling and could cause considerable volatility in Italian BTP futures.
  • OILUSJUL20 (WTI) and OILUKJUL20 (Brent): Crude oil’s rally continue as more countries and regions move towards easing lockdowns while production cut announcements continue to emerge. Also supporting the market was a report from Genscape saying that the pace of stock build at the Cushing slowed last week. The futures market is looking beyond the coming weeks which remains challenging with regards to lack of storage. Instead focusing on the recovery phase. Next key focus will be Wednesday’s EIA stock report.

What is going on?

US is trying to open up with the US’ most populous state California announcing that it will reopen this week, or at least ease Covid19 restrictions.

Australia’s RBA was out with a very positive forecast for the Australian economy, as it offers a baseline scenario of a 6% drop in GDP this year, but a full rebound in 2021, estimates the peak unemployment rate in Australia will be about 10% in the coming months.

Adecco CEO sees ‘early signs’ of stabilization, across key labour markets in Spain, Italy and France but the visibility is still poor in many countries. Latin American and Japan were strong in Q1.

Fed announces purchase programme of ‘eligible’ ETFs in early May following the footsteps of Bank of Japan reinforcing the support for the market.

 


What we are watching next?

German constitutional court ruling on the legality of the ECB purchase programe. As noted above on the comments on Italian BTP futures, the court’s ruling doesn’t necessary create a new crisis if they rule negatively, but certainly could create volatility. The risks generally run one way, i.e., a ruling in favour would likely not garner as much positive attention as a negative ruling generates negative attention in the form of possible BTP and Euro downside (for the later, still focusing on EURUSD and EURJPY.)

Big miners report earnings – Q1 earnings from gold giants Newmont Corp (NEM:arcx) on Tuesday and Barrick Gold Corp (GOLD:arcx) on Wednesday to give us further clues on the state of the industry and the precious metal market in particular. Investors will also be seeking clues about how the pandemic will effect growth plans from the world’s top diversified miners such as Anglo American and Rio Tinto Group.

More Q1 earnings – this week the most important earnings that could impact sentiment are Disney (Tue), Regeneron (Tue), PayPal (Wed), Shopify (Wed), Uber Technologies (Thu), Booking (Thu) and Siemens (Fri).

US-China relationship – this is a critical additional layer to this crisis, as a further falling out between the world’s two largest economies and renewal of trade tensions or worse will add another level of seriousness to concerns that the recovery will stumble. USDCNH, noted above, is a key market barometer, but new Trump tariffs, etc., would also dent confidence broadly.

US Apr. ISM Non-manufacturing and US employment data The March-April data cycle will be the worst for the USA in terms of rate of change to the shock of the Covid19 crisis and sets the bar of the shape of the recovery as May will see considerable opening up from shutdowns across the US. We watch the ISM Non-manufacturing survey and subcomponents for benchmarking the state of the US services sector, but even more so the Friday US employment report. Bloomberg expectations for the US Nonfarm Payrolls change for April is running at -22 million, more than 20 times the worst ever single month reading, and the unemployment rate expected to rise to 16.3%. The US April ADP private payrolls survey is up on Wednesday and is expected at -20 million.

 


Economic Calendar Highlights (times GMT)

  • 1230 – US Mar. Trade Balance -  the US trade deficit has been rapidly shrinking since early 2019 and lower consumption could see it shrink further – an interesting test of “USD as reserve currency” status in the long run, because the reserve currency country must always be in deficit to send its currency to the rest of the world. No market impact on release, however.
  • 1400 – US Apr. ISM Non-manufacturing as noted above, will set the bar as the worst reading for the cycle, as May can only improve from total April lockdowns.
  • 2245– New Zealand Q1 EmploymentNZ has one of the most aggressive lockdowns, but this will show up more in Q2 data.

Follow SaxoStrats on the daily Saxo Markets Call on your favorite podcast app:

Apple Sportify Soundcloud Stitcher

Quarterly Outlook 2024 Q3

Sandcastle economics

01 / 05

  • 350x200 peter

    Macro: Sandcastle economics

    Invest wisely in Q3 2024: Discover SaxoStrats' insights on navigating a stable yet fragile global economy.

    Read article
  • 350x200 althea

    Bonds: What to do until inflation stabilises

    Discover strategies for managing bonds as US and European yields remain rangebound due to uncertain inflation and evolving monetary policies.

    Read article
  • 350x200 peter

    Equities: Are we blowing bubbles again

    Explore key trends and opportunities in European equities and electrification theme as market dynamics echo 2021's rally.

    Read article
  • 350x200 charu (1)

    FX: Risk-on currencies to surge against havens

    Explore the outlook for USD, AUD, NZD, and EM carry trades as risk-on currencies are set to outperform in Q3 2024.

    Read article
  • 350x200 ole

    Commodities: Energy and grains in focus as metals pause

    Energy and grains to shine as metals pause. Discover key trends and market drivers for commodities in Q3 2024.

    Read article

Disclaimer

The Saxo Bank Group entities each provide execution-only service and access to Analysis permitting a person to view and/or use content available on or via the website. This content is not intended to and does not change or expand on the execution-only service. Such access and use are at all times subject to (i) The Terms of Use; (ii) Full Disclaimer; (iii) The Risk Warning; (iv) the Rules of Engagement and (v) Notices applying to Saxo News & Research and/or its content in addition (where relevant) to the terms governing the use of hyperlinks on the website of a member of the Saxo Bank Group by which access to Saxo News & Research is gained. Such content is therefore provided as no more than information. In particular no advice is intended to be provided or to be relied on as provided nor endorsed by any Saxo Bank Group entity; nor is it to be construed as solicitation or an incentive provided to subscribe for or sell or purchase any financial instrument. All trading or investments you make must be pursuant to your own unprompted and informed self-directed decision. As such no Saxo Bank Group entity will have or be liable for any losses that you may sustain as a result of any investment decision made in reliance on information which is available on Saxo News & Research or as a result of the use of the Saxo News & Research. Orders given and trades effected are deemed intended to be given or effected for the account of the customer with the Saxo Bank Group entity operating in the jurisdiction in which the customer resides and/or with whom the customer opened and maintains his/her trading account. Saxo News & Research does not contain (and should not be construed as containing) financial, investment, tax or trading advice or advice of any sort offered, recommended or endorsed by Saxo Bank Group and should not be construed as a record of our trading prices, or as an offer, incentive or solicitation for the subscription, sale or purchase in any financial instrument. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, would be considered as a marketing communication under relevant laws.

Please read our disclaimers:
Notification on Non-Independent Investment Research (https://www.home.saxo/legal/niird/notification)
Full disclaimer (https://www.home.saxo/legal/disclaimer/saxo-disclaimer)

Saxo Bank A/S (Headquarters)
Philip Heymans Alle 15
2900
Hellerup
Denmark

Contact Saxo

Select region

International
International

Trade responsibly
All trading carries risk. Read more. To help you understand the risks involved we have put together a series of Key Information Documents (KIDs) highlighting the risks and rewards related to each product. Read more

This website can be accessed worldwide however the information on the website is related to Saxo Bank A/S and is not specific to any entity of Saxo Bank Group. All clients will directly engage with Saxo Bank A/S and all client agreements will be entered into with Saxo Bank A/S and thus governed by Danish Law.

Apple and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the US and other countries and regions. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.