AUS200
ASX200 H4 | Potential bullish bounceASX200 (AUS200) is falling towards a pullback support and could potentially bounce off this level to climb higher.
Buy entry is at 8,180.49 which is a pullback support that aligns with the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level.
Stop loss is at 8,130.00 which is a level that lies underneath a pullback support.
Take profit is at 8,282.88 which is an overlap resistance that aligns close to the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level.
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Please be advised that the information presented on TradingView is provided to FXCM (‘Company’, ‘we’) by a third-party provider (‘TFA Global Pte Ltd’). Please be reminded that you are solely responsible for the trading decisions on your account. There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading. Any information and/or content is intended entirely for research, educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment or consultation advice or investment strategy. The information is not tailored to the investment needs of any specific person and therefore does not involve a consideration of any of the investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any viewer that may receive it. Kindly also note that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking or past performance statements. We assume no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of any of the information and/or content provided herein and the Company cannot be held responsible for any omission, mistake nor for any loss or damage including without limitation to any loss of profit which may arise from reliance on any information supplied by TFA Global Pte Ltd.
The speaker(s) is neither an employee, agent nor representative of FXCM and is therefore acting independently. The opinions given are their own, constitute general market commentary, and do not constitute the opinion or advice of FXCM or any form of personal or investment advice. FXCM neither endorses nor guarantees offerings of third-party speakers, nor is FXCM responsible for the content, veracity or opinions of third-party speakers, presenters or participants.
AUS200 - SHORTING TIMETeam, yesterday, our AUS200, we hit all the targets last two days
Today it looks like another good short at 8226-8235
STOP LOSS at 8245-65 - depend on your risk level, always have better room for stop loss
TARGET at 8205
TARGET 2 AT 8180-8192
Once the price hit below 8200, BRING STOP LOSS TO BE and remember to take some partial 50-70% volume.
AUS200 H4 | Bullish uptrend to extend?AUS200 is falling towards a pullback support and could potentially bounce off this level to climb higher.
Buy entry is at 8,331.20 which is a pullback support.
Stop loss is at 8,255.00 which is a level that lies underneath an overlap support and a 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level.
Take profit is at 8,441.28 which is a resistance zone that aligns with a confluence of Fibonacci levels i.e. a 61.8% projection and a 127.2% extension.
High Risk Investment Warning
Trading Forex/CFDs on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Leverage can work against you.
Stratos Markets Limited (www.fxcm.com):
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 62% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Stratos Europe Ltd (www.fxcm.com):
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 59% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Stratos Trading Pty. Limited (www.fxcm.com):
Trading FX/CFDs carries significant risks. FXCM AU (AFSL 309763), please read the Financial Services Guide, Product Disclosure Statement, Target Market Determination and Terms of Business at www.fxcm.com
Stratos Global LLC (www.fxcm.com):
Losses can exceed deposits.
Please be advised that the information presented on TradingView is provided to FXCM (‘Company’, ‘we’) by a third-party provider (‘TFA Global Pte Ltd’). Please be reminded that you are solely responsible for the trading decisions on your account. There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading. Any information and/or content is intended entirely for research, educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment or consultation advice or investment strategy. The information is not tailored to the investment needs of any specific person and therefore does not involve a consideration of any of the investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any viewer that may receive it. Kindly also note that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking or past performance statements. We assume no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of any of the information and/or content provided herein and the Company cannot be held responsible for any omission, mistake nor for any loss or damage including without limitation to any loss of profit which may arise from reliance on any information supplied by TFA Global Pte Ltd.
The speaker(s) is neither an employee, agent nor representative of FXCM and is therefore acting independently. The opinions given are their own, constitute general market commentary, and do not constitute the opinion or advice of FXCM or any form of personal or investment advice. FXCM neither endorses nor guarantees offerings of third-party speakers, nor is FXCM responsible for the content, veracity or opinions of third-party speakers, presenters or participants.
AUS200 H4 |Falling to overlap support at 38.2% Fibo retracementAUS200 is falling towards an overlap support and could potentially bounce off this level to climb higher.
Buy entry is at 8,287.45 which is an overlap support that aligns with the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level.
Stop loss is at 8,224.00 which is a level that lies underneath an overlap support and the 50.0% Fibonacci retracement level.
Take profit is at 8,395.60 which is a swing-high resistance.
High Risk Investment Warning
Trading Forex/CFDs on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Leverage can work against you.
Stratos Markets Limited (www.fxcm.com):
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 62% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Stratos Europe Ltd (www.fxcm.com):
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 59% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Stratos Trading Pty. Limited (www.fxcm.com):
Trading FX/CFDs carries significant risks. FXCM AU (AFSL 309763), please read the Financial Services Guide, Product Disclosure Statement, Target Market Determination and Terms of Business at www.fxcm.com
Stratos Global LLC (www.fxcm.com):
Losses can exceed deposits.
Please be advised that the information presented on TradingView is provided to FXCM (‘Company’, ‘we’) by a third-party provider (‘TFA Global Pte Ltd’). Please be reminded that you are solely responsible for the trading decisions on your account. There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading. Any information and/or content is intended entirely for research, educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment or consultation advice or investment strategy. The information is not tailored to the investment needs of any specific person and therefore does not involve a consideration of any of the investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any viewer that may receive it. Kindly also note that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking or past performance statements. We assume no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of any of the information and/or content provided herein and the Company cannot be held responsible for any omission, mistake nor for any loss or damage including without limitation to any loss of profit which may arise from reliance on any information supplied by TFA Global Pte Ltd.
The speaker(s) is neither an employee, agent nor representative of FXCM and is therefore acting independently. The opinions given are their own, constitute general market commentary, and do not constitute the opinion or advice of FXCM or any form of personal or investment advice. FXCM neither endorses nor guarantees offerings of third-party speakers, nor is FXCM responsible for the content, veracity or opinions of third-party speakers, presenters or participants.
AUS200 - Prepare for the battleTeam, those of you who follow the chart accordingly will find the movement that we predicted earlier.
If you have short the top, congratulations, if you missed it, here is the plan
we are shorting AUS at 8203-8207 with stop loss at 8250
We will add extra short at 8225-8232, same stop loss
Our target at 8176
target 2 at 8154
target 3 at 8132
Once the price drops below 8170, the trial stop loss to BE or 8207
AUS200 WAITNG FOR RETEST AND SHORT - DOUBLE TOPTeam, yesterday we had a beautiful trade with 6/6 all-target hitting.
But every day is another day, let's focus on today.
It looks like AUS200 will be moving in a tight range.
We only trade when the price kicks in our set-up range.
We want to short AUS200 AT 8178-8176.2 - (double top). Yesterday's high may be retested.
Our stop loss would be around 8208
Target 1 at 8159.20 and Target 2 at 8123.20
If it breaks below yesterday's low, will be going into the target 3 at 8105 and 8078 ranges
SHORTAUS200 AT MARKET OPEN – current price at 8225Good morning Team; it is Friday, and I hope you have a fantastic week.
We are preparing a short AUS200 at market opening in 30 minutes
Stop loss at 8266 or 8258
TARGET 1 at 8204.5
Once it reaches the 1st target, take 50% partial and bring stop loss to 8247
We are going to target at 8173.3
PATIENCTLY WAIT FOR THE AUS200 getting to our SHORT TRAPGood morning everyone.
we are waiting for the AUS200 to get into our position to short.
If the trade does not form into our position, we will focus on the US market opening tonight. It is essential.
We await the AUS fall below 8140-38 to enter our short position.
Our stop loss should be above the all-time high 8186. (Let your stop loss be a bit lengthy to accommodate fake outs which happens most of the times in the market.)
Our first target will be 8126; please note once it hits our first target, please take 50% profit
from our second target, 8103.7, and
third target 8055.7
PREPARE TO SHORT AUS200 once the price confirmation.Good morning Everyone, look like the AUS200 trying to reach last Week (Friday High) that would be double top. But would doubted to break old time high 8166. We are going to set up a short position once it retest at the price 8131.6-8129.2 with Stop loss at 8173.6
Target 1 at 8089.
Target 2 at 8055.8
Please note: we are not entering yet, until price confirmation
AUS200 - This is what I expect the trend for todayWe have review the market for the AUS200, but we are expecting further downtrend base on the chart which we have set up for AUS200.
PLEASE NOTE: We are not enter this trade today.
We would consider short at 8012.60, with stop loss either at 8030.40 or 8062.7
target would be 7973.60
and target 2 at 7941.50
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ASX200 - the bulls in control for now Everyone is talking about the moves in the FTSE100, but the ASX200 is having a moment - we see solid rate of change, the index is still no where near overbought, and we see 4 days of rising range expansion. Momentum is clearly to the upside, which suggests dips should well supported and shallow - hard to be short on timeframes 4hr+ and favour this higher but a move below the former breakout area of 7723 and I would be more cautious.
(Thoughts from Chris Weston)
A Traders’ Weekly Playbook: Records are there for breaking After a quiet start to the week in markets, Friday’s US session saw risk come alive. A poor US ISM manufacturing at 47.8 – notable in the new orders and employment sub-components – was married with comments from Fed members Lorie Logan and Chris Waller, in turn promoting a strong rally in US Treasuries, with additional rate cuts being priced through 2024.
The result was new all-time highs in the US500, US30 and NAS100, with the US2000 eyeing a key breakout of its longer-term range high. New US equity highs backed new highs seen in the AUS200, JPN225 and EU Stoxx and GER40. Gold also got huge attention from clients, rallying 1.9% to set at a new closing high, and we’ve seen many in our alt-crypto offering (notably Bitcoin cash) ripping.
We’ll see if the feel-good factor lasts, but I find it interesting that equity and risky assets rallied despite seeing poor US data – where it’s easy to argue that poor data that increases economic slowdown risk, could have prompted risk aversion. So, while we can also point to Fed chatter, it seems in this case bad economic data was good for risk, with the overriding factor being increased rate cut expectations.
We’ll see if that same reaction is seen in the outcome of the US ISM services print and the various labour market readings, as these will be the key cross-asset drivers this week. Powell’s testimony to Congress will also get a look-in from traders and we know if he wants to move market pricing he can.
The ECB and BoC meeting and the China NPC meeting will get good attention but will play second fiddle to the US data.
The poor market internals in equity may be an amber warning sign to some, but market internals and breadth have offered no profitable signal for a while - pullbacks remain shallow and there is a hunt to go hard on risk. There is plenty to navigate this week but for now, the price action shows that the bulls are very much in control. Long equity hedged with gold exposures seems the play, and looking at the charts on the higher timeframes it feels like the path of least resistance being onwards and upwards.
Good luck to all.
The marquee event risks for the week ahead:
The key risk events for markets this week – China NPC meeting, ECB meeting, Jay Powell’s testimony to Congress & US nonfarm payrolls.
Monday
Switzerland CPI (18:30 AEDT) – the market looks for CHF headline CPI to print 1.1% yoy (from 1.3%) and core CPI at 1% (from 1.2%). The CHF swaps market prices a 25bp cut at the Swiss National Bank (SNB) meeting on 21 March at 70%, so a weaker than expected CPI print should see the market push that implied to c.90%, suggesting the SNB could lead G10 central banks in the sequencing of policy easing. As a result the CHF could become a consensus short from hedge funds. Look for XAUCHF to rally hard on a weak CPI number.
Tuesday
US ISM Services Index (Wednesday 02:00 AEDT) – the market looks for the services index to print 53.0 (from 53.4). Given the moves in risky assets (equity, credit) and gold post last week’s ISM manufacturing this data point could drive market volatility. A print below 51.0 would be a surprise and promote further upside in XAUUSD, with the market putting notable attention on the new orders and unemployment components of the survey.
Japan (Feb) Tokyo CPI (10:30 AEDT) – the market looks for JP headline CPI to print 2.5% (from 1.6%) and CPI ex-food and energy unchanged at 3.1%. After last week’s upside surprise in the JP national CPI print, and the upside move in 2-year JGB yields to 0.19% (the highest level since May 2011), the market will watch this one closely and an upside surprise could see JPY shorts cover.
BoJ Gov Ueda speaks at a fintech summit (15:00 AEDT) – after speaking last week at the G20 meeting and his comments considered dovish, we’ll see if this is the forum for a change in Ueda’s stance.
‘Super Tuesday’ – the biggest day in the primaries calendar, with some 15 states voting to nominate their choice of Presidential nominee. Given Trump’s result in South Carolina, it seems a done deal that he will get the REP nomination, so it's hard to see Super Tuesday as a market event.
China 14th National People Conference – the market will learn of the government’s economic targets for 2024 and what they are aiming for GDP, inflation, unemployment, and the deficit. We should see officials target growth of “around 5%” but it is feasible they aim for more.
Wednesday
US JOLTS job openings (Thursday 02:00 AEDT) – the market looks for 8.89m job openings (from 9.026m) – Traders with long positions in equity and gold and USD shorts will want to see a weaker print vs consensus expectations.
Australia Q4 GDP (11:30 AEDT) – the market looks for Q4 GDP of 0.3% QoQ / 1.4% YoY (from 2.1%), but expectations will be massaged as we get the partials (inventory, company profits, net exports as a percentage of GDP). Can’t see this being a mover of the AUD to any great degree, so would have limited concerns about holding AUD positions over this data point.
UK Budget (23:30 AEDT / 12:30 local) – Rishi Sunak needs Jeremy Hunt to pull a rabbit out of a hat to get voter momentum into the UK election - but one questions if this budget moves the dial on voting intentions and impacts the UK bond market, and by extension the GBP? Recent media suggests the chance of a major fiscal boost from the budget has been reduced - see my colleague Michael Brown's preview here - pepperstone.com
Bank of Canada meeting (Thursday 01:45 AEDT) – the BoC won’t move on policy and will almost certainly keep rates at 5%. Given the recent downside surprise in December GDP (1.1% YoY) and January CPI print (of 2.9%) we could get stronger guidance on future easing. CAD swaps price 85bp of cuts (or just over three 25bp cuts) by December, so the move in the CAD will come as traders reconcile the tone of the statement with this pricing.
Thursday
Fed chair Jay Powell testifies to Congress (Friday 02:00 AEDT) – Jay Powell’s testimony will garner big attention from the market, where most see Powell offering a balanced/neutral view of economic risk and policy – this is his last formal forum to speak before the 20 March Fed meeting, in which some feel some risk of a risk of a hawkish pivot.
China trade data (no set time) – a hard one to react to given there is no set time for the release – the market looks for exports to increase by 3% and imports by 1.5%. A larger import number could boost currencies such as the AUD, NZD, and CLP.
Japan labour cash earnings (10:30 AEDT) – while we look ahead at Japan’s spring wage negotiations, the market looks for cash earnings of 1.3%, which suggests real wages of -1.4%
Mexico CPI (23:00 AEDT) – the market looks for headline CPI at 4.43% (from 4.88%) and core CPI at 4.62% (from 4.76%). Given recent economics, the prospect of a 25bp cut in the 21 March Banxico meeting looks likely, and the CPI print could reinforce that belief. Conversely, an upside surprise could see USDMXN break 16.9924 support and offer a larger downside move to 16.8000.
ECB meeting (Friday 00:15 AEDT) – the ECB are not expected to ease until June, so the statement and Christine Lagarde’s speech will most likely reflect the market’s central view. The bar seems high for the ECB to open the door to an April cut at this meeting, and Lagarde’s commentary may point to a “few month months” of data before they ease. The ECB’s updated economic projections, while likely to be downgraded, will still not be poor enough to suggest increased urgency to normalize. Unless we get a big surprise from the ECB, I’d be looking to fade moves in EURUSD into a 1.0920 to 1.0760 range this week.
Friday
US nonfarm payrolls (Sat 00:30 AEDT) – the market looks for moderation from the blowout January report, where the consensus sits at a healthy 200k jobs created in February. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.7%, with average hourly earnings growing 4.3% yoy (from 4.5%). NFPs is the marquee event risk of the week, but forging a playbook is not clear cut – One questions if a rise in the U/E rate lifts risky assets as bond yields fall (rate cut expectations increase), or whether this outcome promotes risk aversion as traders consider the negative implications on economics. The USD will hold the cleanest read on the review of the data.
Canada employment report (Sat 00:30 AEDT) – the market looks for 20k jobs created and a tick up in the U/E rate to 5.8%.
International Women’s Day
Saturday
China CPI/PPI (12:30 AEDT) – the market sees CPI increasing by 0.2%, which would mark the first positive read after four months of falling consumer prices (month-on-month). PPI is eyed -2.6%. The trader’s concern here is around whether this offers any gapping risk for China assets, or its proxies (AUD, NZD, CLP etc) – I would argue it doesn’t.
US earnings – Target, Marvell Technology, Costco, Broadcom
Full Fed speaker line-up for the week
A Traders’ Weekly Playbook: After record levels comes chopOn the week we learnt that the UK and Japan are in a technical recession, although this meant little to markets and perhaps the bigger issue in Japan was the steady stream of pushback from key Japanese officials on recent JPY strength.
US retail sales fell 0.80% in Jan, a sinister turn when both US CPI and PPI were far hotter than expected, putting us on notice that the US core PCE print (due on 29 Feb) could be above 0.4% MoM - which if seen a year ago would have been a trigger for the Fed to hike by 25bp. The Feb CPI print (due 12 March) will get huge attention, and while some way off is a key date for the diary.
Among a barrage of ASX200 companies reporting, we also saw a poor Aussie employment report, which put great emphasis on the February employment report (due on 21 March) given economists (and the ABS) expect a solid snapback in hiring in this data series. The ASX200 eyes new ATHs, and key earnings from the likes of BHP, RIO, QAN and WOW this week could take us there.
In markets, the USD gained for a sixth straight week, although a 0.2% week-on-week (Wow) gain was more of a stealth grind higher than an impulsive one-way tear. Assisting USD flows was a reduction in US swaps pricing, where we started the week with 113bp of cuts priced by December 2024, and finished with 91bp (or 3.6 cuts), which helped lift the US 2YR Treasury to 4.64% (+16bp on the week). If the market hadn’t already amassed a sizeable USD position, then one could argue the USD move would have been higher.
The EURUSD weekly shows indecision to push the pair lower and a move above 1.0805 (last week's high) and should take the pair through 1.0828 (200-day MA) and onto 1.0865, which would be a level I’d be looking to fade longs on the week.
While we saw the US500 0.4% lower on the week, we saw the prior week's low of 4918 (and the 5-week EMA) holding firm, with traders selling the VIX index above 15%. While US cash equity will be closed Monday for Presidents Day, I’m expecting choppy trade through to Thursday - so the intraday environment for day traders could get a little messy and it will pay to be nimble.
The NAS100 was the underperformer last week but should attract good attention from clients this week with Nvidia’s number due out on Wednesday (after the cash close), and where the market eyes some punchy in reaction to the headlines, which could spill out into AI names more broadly.
The Year of Dragon got off to a solid start for China equity outperformed, notably in the small-cap space (the CSI500 closed +10% WoW) and we see the CN50 index looking compelling for further upside, and I see 12,000 coming into play. While National Team flows and PBoC liquidity have supported China/HK equity, economics do matter, so put the China Prime rate decision and new home sales data on the radar to potentially influence this week.
On the China proxy theme, Copper etched out a solid move on the week although we have seen selling interest into $3.80. Crude is also getting attention from traders, with price gaining 3.4% WoW and testing the 29 Jan pivot high. Moving in a bullish channel we see upper trend resistance into $80.50 – a level to put on the radar.
Staying in the commodity theme, silver (XAGUSD) has found good buying interest off $22 and has closed above the double bottom neckline and the 200-day MA – upside into $24.00/50 looks possible. On the ag’s, cocoa and wheat come on the radar as short set-ups, while corn has seen a solid bear trend since October but indecision in Friday's price action, suggests traders are on notice for a small reversal this week.
The marquee event risks for traders to navigate:
Monday
US cash equity and bonds are offline for Presidents Day – futures will be open but will close early.
Tuesday
China 1 & 5-year Prime Rate (12:20 AEDT) – The market sees the 5-year Prime rate lowered by 10bp to 4.1%, while the 1-yr rate is expected to remain at 3.45%. The Prime rate is the benchmark rate by which households can borrow from Commercial banks. We may see some disappointment in China's equity markets if the PBoC refrain from easing, which has been the trend of late. This time may be different, so conversely, a deeper-than-expected cut across both tenors may see traders adding to an early long position in the CN50 index.
Wednesday
Canada Jan CPI (00:30 AEDT) – The consensus is we see Canadian headline CPI coming in at 3.2% (from 3.4%) and core CPI unchanged at 3.6%. The CAD swaps market sees the first cut from the BoC occurring at either the June or July meeting. A core print above 3.6% should see good CAD inflows, while below 3.4% should interest CAD sellers. The GBPCAD (daily) setup is on the radar, where a closing break of 1.6950 would inspire short positions for 1.6800/1.6750.
Australia Q4 Wage Price Index (11:30 AEDT) – the median estimate from economists is for Q4 wages to increase 0.9% QoQ & 4.1% YoY (from 4%). The AUD may see a small move on this data point, but it will naturally be dependent on the extent of the outcome vs expectations. A wage print above 4.3% would be a big surprise and get some attention from Aussie rates traders who see the first cut (from the RBA) at the August meeting.
Nvidia Q424 earnings (after-market) – as noted in the Nvidia preview the options market prices a substantial -/+11% move on earnings. Naturally this sort of reaction – if it plays out - has the potential to cause big volatility in the NAS100 and US500 after the cash market close, so it is a clear event risk.
Thursday
FOMC meeting minutes (06:00 AEDT) – the January FOMC minutes should be a non-event given it predates last week’s stronger US CPI and PPI print. Any colour on an early end to QT may get some focus though.
EU HCOB (flash) manufacturing & services PMI (20:00 AEDT) - the market looks for the EU manufacturing index to print at 47.0 (from 46.6) and services at 48.8 (from 48.4). If these median expectations prove to be correct, then we would see a slight improvement in the pace of decline, which is modestly EUR positive. Seems unlikely we see a sizeable reaction in the EUR unless we see services above 50.0.
UK S&P (flash) global manufacturing & services PMI (20:30 AEDT) - the market looks for the UK manufacturing index to print at 47.5 (47.0) and services at 54.5 (from 54.3). So, a slight improvement is expected in both metrics. A service PMI print above 55 could see increased movement in the GBP and cement expectations the BoE will look to cut rates from August. GBPUSD needs a catalyst as it tracks a tight sideways range, while I hold a preference for GBPNOK lower, with GBPCAD shorts a potential trade I’m looking at.
Friday
S&P Global US Manufacturing & Services PMI (01:45 AEDT) – the market looks for manufacturing index to print at 50.5 (from 50.7) and services at 52.1 (from 52.5). Any reading above 50 shows expansion from the prior month, so if the consensus proves to be correct then both metrics will show expansion but at a slower pace. Hard to see a pronounced move in the USD or US equity unless we see a sizeable beat/miss.
China New Home Prices (12:30 AEDT) – China’s new home prices have fallen every month since May 2023, so further falls seem likely in the January series. China equity may find sellers if we see the pace of decline increases from the December outcome of -0.45%. Any improvement in the pace of decline could be taken well by the CN50 and HK50 Index which are already seeing tailwinds courtesy of National Team buying.
ECB 1 & 3-year CPI expectations (20:00 AEDT) – there is no consensus by which to price risk for the EUR, but consider the last estimate was 3.2% and 2.5% respectively. Any impact on the EUR will come from the extent of the revisions. June remains the likely forum for the ECB to start a cutting cycle. Biased long of EURJPY given the bullish momentum for 163.
US Politics – The South Carolina REP Primary is held on Saturday – will this be the stage for Nikki Haley to formally exit the REP Nominee race?
Marquee corporate earnings reports
• US corporate earnings – Home Depot (Before-market 20 Feb), Walmart (Before-market 20 Feb), Nvidia (After-market 21 Feb)
• ASX200 Corp earnings – COH (19 Feb), BHP (20 Feb), WOW (21 Feb), RIO (21 Feb), QAN (22 Feb), FMG (22 Feb)
• HK Corp earnings – HSBC (21 Feb)
RBA meeting preview – transitioning away from a tightening bias Time: Tuesday at 14:30 AEDT
With the Fed, ECB and BoE now having offered their guidance on policy and all largely pushing back on the pricing of imminent cuts, it’s the RBA who steps up as a risk event for traders on Tuesday.
Like the aforementioned central banks, the timing and the extent of RBA rate cuts are the subject of much debate among local market participants - all with fairly strong and dispersed views on when the first cut plays out.
What is more important to drive the reaction in the AUD or AUS200 are market expectations and what is being priced. The best way to measure these expectations is through the Aus 30-day interest rate futures, and these are the first derivative by which other markets (such as the AUD) will react to.
As we from the table the central view from rates traders is there is very little chance of a 25bp cut at this meeting or the March meeting. The May RBA meeting is considered to be ‘live’ and while this pricing will move dynamically with supply and demand from market participants, there is currently a 56% probability of easing here, with June almost fully priced for a cut. I sit more in the June camp myself.
By December ‘24 the market is torn between two or three 25bp cuts, with 64bp of easing priced.
Another factor is the pricing of the trough in the cash rate, as this offers a sense of where the collective sees a neutral setting. Here we can look at the forward rates market and see this currently set between 3.50% and 3.25% in 2 years’ time. A 3.5% floor in the cash rate would be conditional on the economy avoiding a recession, where a recessionary environment would require a more accommodative stance and the cash rate likely pulled below 2%.
The reaction in the AUD
While the RBA won't cut the cash rate at this meeting, the reaction in markets will come from the tone of the RBA statement and any change in the wording that gives a sense of whether there is any appetite to ease from May or June.
While cumulative pricing in Aussie rates is certainly nowhere near as aggressive as what we see in the tradable US or EUR interest rate markets, if the market sees no tangible evidence the bank is prepared to cut then May rate cut pricing will be pared back and the AUD should spike higher.
Positioning, specifically from fast money leverage funds (e.g. hedge funds), will also play a critical role in the extent of the move to the tone of the statement, and flow reports from investment banks suggest these players running a sizeable AUD short position, albeit not at extreme levels.
Given the trend in both headline and core inflation, along with subdued growth and stalling house price momentum, the RBA will almost certainly lose its hawkish bias in the meeting statement. However, they will likely be non-committal and adopt a clear wait-and-see bias. This should loosely put a cut on the table as early as May, but it will be highly conditional on the outcome of the following data points:
Wage price index (21 Feb), monthly CPI reports (28 Feb, 27 March), Q1 CPI (24 April), employment reports (15 Feb, 21 March, 18 April) and Q4 GDP (6 March).
Certainly, the Q1 CPI is the marquee data point that could decide a May cut, and the RBA would want to see inflation falling below 3.5%. The RBA would also require an unemployment rate above 4% (currently 3.9%) and trending higher to ease.
A big day for the AUD
It's worth considering that as well as the RBA statement we get the SoMP (Statement on Monetary policy) at the same time, and there will likely be changes to the bank's economic projections – that could put the market on notice.
Also, an hour later (15:30 AEDT) RBA Governor Bullock will hold a press conference – this will be important for traders to react to. Gov Bullock will be probed on the broad appetite to cut and once again the reaction in the AUD and AUS200 will be driven by nuance and her urgency to normalize relative to the rates pricing.
In theory, the meeting should be a low-volatility affair, with the bank moving to a more neutral setting and welcoming the moves lower in inflation but refraining from saying their work is done. It is still an obvious risk though for AUD exposures, so do consider position sizing over the event and consider where you see the skew in risk.
As we move into the meeting AUDUSD is tracking a range of 0.6625 to 0.6550 – a break of this range could be quite powerful. Sentiment towards global risk assets is a contributing factor but as I say, around the meeting how the RBA are seeing things relative to market pricing will likely be the driving factor.