Cautiously Optimistic

Equity markets are off to a positive start on Wednesday as we await a slew of big economic releases and a speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

It’s already been a very headline-driven week, particularly where oil is concerned, while Covid restrictions and protests in China have very much set the tone in Asia, and to a lesser extent elsewhere.

The headwinds facing China are intensifying and the protests of recent days could make it even more challenging to navigate. That said, what we’ve heard so far has been promising and potentially indicative of a plan that was already in the works.

But we shouldn’t kid ourselves. In the event that China commits 100% to its vaccine drive, especially among the elderly and vulnerable, the move away from zero Covid will take time as the virus spreads rapidly throughout the country necessitating swift action to control the spread. Even the best-case scenario is one of significant turbulence for the world’s second-largest economy next year.

Chinese PMIs highlight the challenges ahead

The PMIs highlight just how difficult the situation is in China, with the zero-Covid stance combined with the property market crackdown severely impacting domestic sentiment, while a slowing global economy weighs on external demand. With both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMIs falling deeper into contraction territory than anticipated, the country really has a mountain to climb in order to achieve decent, consistent growth once more.

Some rare good news on inflation

The euro is a little higher on the day against the dollar after CPI data for the currency bloc slowed to 10%, far below market expectations of around 10.4%. While still extraordinarily high, it does offer hope that inflation may have peaked and the deceleration could be faster than anticipated, in much the same way it was on the way up.

The single currency was choppy in the aftermath of the release, while markets now view the possibility of a 50 or 75 basis points hike in December as a coin flip after previously heavily favouring the latter. That could be a positive for the euro if it means less of an economic slump, with the bloc already likely heading for recession.

Immense uncertainty

It was always shaping up to be a volatile week in oil markets and it’s certainly living up to that. Brent and WTI are up more than 2% on Wednesday as the EU continues to work towards an agreeable price cap on Russian crude and OPEC+ consider another large production cut this weekend.

Both carry significant uncertainty and a wide range of outcomes that should ensure oil remains volatile in the coming days, especially if both go into the weekend still up in the air. When OPEC+ can’t even commit to meeting in person, you know nothing is straightforward.

Despite rumours circulating of another possible two million barrel cut, it wouldn’t come as a surprise for OPEC+ to hold off on this occasion and wait until everything becomes clearer on the price cap and China. Nor would it be alarming for the alliance to wait a couple of extra days for details on the cap which could be more easily factored into its forecast and decision. This may be why they’ve opted for a virtual meeting as it offers more flexibility.

Rallying ahead of Powell’s appearance

Gold is benefiting from improved risk appetite as the dollar softens and US yields edge lower. It remains very much within the same range though, between $1730 support and $1,780 resistance as we await some major economic reports and, of course, the speech from Jerome Powell. Whether the Fed Chair will be so bold as to say something that could have a material impact on the yellow metal when there is some major data due over the next couple of weeks, I’m not so sure. But there’s certainly a risk he will and a break of either of these levels could be significant.

Rising for now

Bitcoin is making steady gains in the session, up more than 2% and eyeing a second positive session. It did run into resistance around $1,700 again, the upper end of its range over the last couple of weeks. While we could see a bigger correction to the upside, especially if we’re treated to some dovish commentary from Powell, I’m not convinced it would be anything more than that. The industry has been shaken by the FTX collapse and as a result, bitcoin could remain vulnerable to further plunges in the price.