Asia Strategy: Is Korea the new safe haven?
Transcript of Asia Strategy: Is Korea the new safe haven?
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7/29/2019 Asia Strategy: Is Korea the new safe haven?
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Is Korea the new safe haven?THURSDAY
12 SEPTEMBER 2013
EDITORSean Yokota
Head of Asia Strategy
+65 6505 0583
Focus: Is Korea the new safe haven?
Koreas performance across asset classes has been resilient in the last two months, whilemany in emerging markets have suffered. Koreas equity market, Kospi is up almost 5% andthe Korean Won has strengthened versus the USD in similar amount as you can see in Chart 1.
In the bond market, Korean yields have increased by a smaller amount than US Treasuries(Chart 2). Is Korea the new safe haven? We dont think so.
FX Tracker - A look at Asian across asset performance, FX forwards and volatility overthe last month. What stands out?
1) Performance a) The cyclical Korea and Taiwan continue to outperform. They lagged theregion over the last 12 months and were likely the least crowded. China is rebounding.Indonesia has finally started adjusting the spot market and hiking interest rates. It has taken
the first step towards improvement b) Indias rates have broken the trend from favorablemonetary policies. c) Yields are steepening from rise in US longer term yields but we think thiswill start to flatten where short term rates need to rise to stem capital outflows.
2) Forwards Carry is falling in most places as risk off sentiment eases. CNY NDF carry hasfallen from a move lower in fixing. Going long CNY onshore looks attractive. TWD and PHPnegative carry has increased as sentiment improves on these two currencies.
3) Volatility - Vol and carry are moving in different directions, which typically means that vol
s too high, especially in IDR and INR.i
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Focus: Is Korea the new safe haven?
Koreas performance across asset classes has been resilient in the last two months, while many in emerging markets havesuffered. Koreas equity market, Kospi is up almost 5% and the Korean Won has strengthened versus the USD in similaramount as you can see in Chart 1. In the bond market, Korean yields have increased by a smaller amount than US Treasuries
(Chart 2). Is Korea the new safe haven? We dont think so.
Chart 1: Koreas currency and equity are performing well Chart 2: Bond yields have not risen as much
(20)(15)
(10)
(5)
0
5
10
15
KRW
EUR
TWD
CNY
JPY
SGD
ZAR
PHP
THB
MYR
TRY
BRL
INR
IDR
FX vs USD Equity
change from 28/06 to 06/09(%)
(50)
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200
IDR
TRY
INR
BRL
CNY
THB
UST
ZAR
MYR
AUD
SGD
Bunds
TWD
KRW
JPY
PHP
change from 28/06 to 06/095 year rate change (bp)
Source: Bloomberg, CEIC, SEB
Credit is due
Korea is superior to other emerging markets on several dimensions. First, looking at the balance of payment flows, Korea runsa strong current account surplus and that surplus has been growing as you can see from the blue line in Chart 3. The possibleUS Federal Reserve tapering of monetary policy is leading to capital outflows but Korea can offset them via the currentaccount.
Second, Korea hasnt experienced strong capital outflows because foreign positioning in the equity and bond market has beenlow. In the government bond market, foreigners own only about 16% of the market compared to Australia at close to 70%,Malaysia at 43% and Indonesia at 31%. In Korea, foreigners have hardly sold their bond holdings as you can see from thegreen line in Chart 4.
On equities, foreigners had been reducing their holdings in the first half of the year (blue line, Chart 4) largely from the strongequity performance in Japan. Japan and Korea compete head-on in industries such as autos, construction and shipbuildingand we think many had rebalanced away from Korea to Japan. Furthermore, in the last two months, Yen and Nikkeiperformance has eased and there is again a re-accumulation of Korean equities.
Chart 3: Koreas current account surplus growing Chart 4: Positioning on the light side
Current Account % of GDP
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01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
-6
-4
-2
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J an-
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Feb-
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Equity Bonds
Net Foreign Purchases KRW trn 10d roll sum
Source: Bloomberg, CEIC, SEB
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Tailwinds to subside
We dont think these are sustainable trends.
First, we think the current account surplus will likely fall. The favorable current account position came from improved tradebalance from exports recovering faster than imports. We think this happened because Korea has had relatively higherinventory relative to production as you can see from Chart 6, which allowed Korea to export without importing too manyinputs. However, in the coming months, we expect inventories to decrease from continued increase in demand, raise importgrowth and narrow the trade surplus.
Second, we think the Japanese Yen will continue to weaken and the Nikkei will march higher and again compete for capitalflows. Japan continues to run very loose monetary policy and they are ready to do more fiscal and monetary stimulus with anyblip in the equity market or growth outlook. We are already seeing the commitment by the Japanese authorities with theproposed increase in the consumption tax scheduled for April of 2014. The government already plans to implement fiscalstimulus to cushion the fall in consumption. If the fiscal stimulus is not enough, Bank of Japan is ready to implement moremonetary easing if the inflation and growth outlook weakens. This type of policy stance by Japan becomes headwinds forKorean assets to outperform. At least, it calls for a reduction in the strong equity inflows weve seen in the last 2 months.
Chart 5: Its a 2 month phenomenon Chart 6: High inventory means less imports
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-3 -3 -4-6
-9 -10-13
-15 -16 -17 -18-20
(30)
(25)
(20)
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(10)
(5)
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10
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CNY
EUR
KR
W
TW
D
SGD
THB
P
HP
MYR
JPY
T
RY
IDR
B
RL
Z
AR
INR
FX vs USD equity% ytd
60
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80
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130
J
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Jul-05
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Production
Inventory
Korea 2010=100
Source: Bloomberg, CEIC, SEB
In summary, we think rest of Asia and emerging markets will either catch up to Korea or Korea will start under-performing. Wedont recommend chasing the move lower in USD/KRW.
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Asia FX View Summary
China (CNY, CNH)Macro: The economy is again running on all engines. We see 3 drivers to the Chinese economy a) external demand throughexports b) domestic demand measured through construction and c) monetary policy. They were all turning lower in the firsthalf of the year but all three are again turning up. First, exports had been decelerating since authorities have clamped downon over billing of exports to take advantage of RMB appreciation. However, this impact is waning and with improved outlookin Europe and US, exports took a bounce higher in July and August and we expect it to continue. Second, the biggest changewe saw was in domestic demand where our SEB China Construction Indicator had turned down (Chart 10), signalling aslowdown. However, this has turned in July/August and we are seeing some specific relaxing of property measures (e.g.Wenzhou). Property prices continue to rise about 0.8% a month. Lastly, monetary contraction appears to be ending (Chart11). The liquidity crunch in interbank market has subsided and interest rate sensitive non-bank lending has stabilized. Hencewith 3 out of 3 drivers stabilizing, we think the risk for growth is to the upside going forward.
FX: USDCNY fixing, set by the policymakers have been stable. We think the currency is acting as a nominal anchor of stability whilethe authorities reform the domestic financial market, which increases volatility in interest rates, credit growth and equity markets. Inaddition, the potential change in US Fed policy is increasing global currency volatility and China doesnt want to inherit that volatility.Lastly, Chinas real rates have risen with US real rates and CNY should outperform other Asian currencies. We think NDF will
outperform CNH in a period of USD strength and global deleveraging from higher US Treasury yields. CNH underlying performancesuch as bonds is weakening and with an open capital account for CNH products, it will sell-off more than the fixing sensitive NDFmarket. We have a short USD/CNY 1 month NDF position in our Asia FX Portfolio.
Chart 10: Construction rollover is stabilizing Chart 11: Monetary tightening is subsiding
-20
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SEB China construction indicator% yoy 3mma
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New Total Financing
New Bank Lending
RMB trn 3mma
Source: Bloomberg, CEIC, SEB
Hong Kong (HKD)We dont like HKD and look to use it as a hedge for USD strength. USDHKD is trading at the very bottom of the peg at 7.75 andcannot get any stronger from a more positive macro environment. Hong Kong inherits US interest rate policy from the peg to the
USD and low rates have pushed up asset prices in Hong Kong. Chinas growth and return of CNY appreciation has also helped HongKong.
However, there are risks that HKD can weaken. One, as the US economy recovers, Feds balance sheet can be reduced and US yieldsmay rise further. The rise in rates through the peg will pressure Hong Kong rates to rise and lower Hong Kong priced assets. Both ofthese will make HKD weaker. Furthermore, long USDHKD can act as hedge if China or general global risk re-emerges. Long USDHKDis also a small positive carry hedge.
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India (INR)Macro: India is and has been about the current account deficit and inflation. Despite a slowdown in the domestic economy, importshave not slowed enough and the current account deficit remains large. Imports and the trade deficit remain high from populistpolicies such as subsidize fuel prices that have prevented price responses on demand. In a world of volatile capital flows from USmonetary policy pushing up global yields and cost of funding, current account deficit economies like India become vulnerable. Thisis also preventing the central bank from cutting interest rates to reignite the economy since higher rates are needed to preventcapital outflow. Lastly, inflation was heading lower but that appears to have stopped. Global disinflation has also stopped andprevents the chances of big monetary stimulus by the central bank.
FX: INR has depreciated by over 20% this year. RBI and the government has been passed multiple measures to preventfurther weakness in INR by reducing gold imports, implementing partial capital controls and reducing fuel subsidies but theydont address Indias core issue of weak exports relative to its strong demand for oil and imports. The new RBI Governor,Raghuran Rajan has set some new guidelines, which have helped stabilize INR short term. However, as long as US yieldscontinue rising and the government doesnt tackle the fiscal and growth issues, INR will continue to be under pressure.
Chart 12: No reprieve in trade deficit Chart 13: Indias inflation easing
-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-202
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05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
Trade Balance
ex oil
bn USD
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US PPI WPI India
3mma yoy %
Source: Bloomberg, CEIC, SEB
Indonesia (IDR)
Macro: The cyclical growth has peaked. Indonesia benefited from a clean balance sheet allowing for credit growth that generateddomestic demand (Chart 14). However, credit growth will slow as the central bank is forced to hike interest rates to prevent capitaloutflow and rise in inflation from fuel price hikes by 44%. This combination of tighter policy and higher fuel prices is positive longterm but short term will crimp economic activity. Indonesia is likely taking the cue from India where combination of subsidized fueland current account deficit can lead to a sudden capital outflow and destabilize the economy.
FX: The spot market, which was stable from central bank intervention, is slowly moving upwards with the NDF market. IDR NDFweakened due to risk aversion and investors hedging their FX exposure of their bond holdings. The NDF now provides attractiveyields to go long IDR but we remain sidelined since EM local currency bond index shows that year to date as turned negative andalmost erasing the gains from 2012. Redemption pressures are on the rise and investors may have sell the underlying bonds thanjust hedge their FX exposure, which can hurt the spot market and lead to further sell-off in the NDF market. In addition, BI is finallyletting spot move upwards since protecting the currency is draining their FX reserves. We expect 50bps more hikes in the next 6
months from BI to protect the currency.Chart 14: Strong loan growth Chart 15: Hiking started
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Loan growth % yoy
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J IBOR overnight rate
Policy rate
FASB
Source: Bloomberg, CEIC, SEB
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Korea (KRW)Macro: If Mr. Bernanke is right and the US economy recovers, this should help Korea and exports. However, the domestic recoverywill be slower because of Koreas high private debt. As Chart 16 shows, Korea has one of the highest private debt levels in the world.The high debt is the result of relying on credit to sustain a high growth level. With everyone leveraged up, trend domestic growth willlikely fall since Korea has limited room to borrow and grow. In addition, Korea will likely have lower inflation. With less investment,demand for funding will decrease and creates excess savings, which will drive interest rates lower. By identity, this should also
keep the current account surplus stable.FX: see focus above.
Chart 16: High private debt level Chart 17: Yield differential will hit KRW
debt % of GDP
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EU
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Philippine
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Indonesia
Corp Debt
Household Debt
US Korea 5 year yield spread 100bps
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Source: CEIC, SEB
Malaysia (MYR)Malaysias economy will go through a mild slowdown from fiscal contraction. Prime Minister Najib gave cash handouts to influencethe last election and now those impacts will weigh on growth. We would also watch for him to pass unfavourable but positive longterm economic measures. He raised the fuel prices by almost 10% this month, which is a start. Over the medium term, we expectNajib to continue with his liberalization plans and especially help the equity market. Malaysias equity market is often expensivesince domestic funds and public institutions buy and hold Malaysian stocks, which make foreigners reluctant to buy as it is over-priced and discourages Malaysian companies from aggressively increase profitability. With domestic institutions divesting, that will
force more foreign inflows and should lead to more efficient Malaysian companies.
MYR has been hurt from USD strength and rising US yields. It has also been hit from rapid reduction in the current account surplus.However, with the export outlook improving, Chinas domestic demand recovering and fuel price hikes to limit imports, we think MYRcan outperform in Asia.
Philippines (PHP)Philippines had grabbed the attention of many investors from strong performance in the equity, bond and currency market. Lowinflation, abundant global liquidity and credit growth was helping domestic demand. Philippines has also recently received a ratingupgrade to investment grade by S&P and Fitch and becomes another support for PHP. We are worried short term about PHP sinceinterest rates are very low and unlike Indonesia, the central bank is not turning hawkish to prevent capital outflow. We are short PHPvs USD.
Singapore (SGD)Singapore looks to be turning better. Exports and growth have finally turned where 2Q GDP accelerated to 3.8%yoy from 0.2%.Inflation has eased from over 5% in the middle of 2012 to below 2%. Inflation is mostly housing and autos (autos are inflated byincreased auction price to own a car) and for housing, more cooling measures have been introduced such as increasing stamp dutyon home purchases by 5-7 percentage points. Singapores inflation was outpacing its trading partners but it has converged (Chart20). We think Singapore will join China and choose to sacrifice high growth for a stronger currency. Growth is recovering but will notreach the previous levels of close to 10% and settle around 4-5%. Inflation has eased but will likely pick up since strict immigrationpolicies will keep underlying inflation in tact. SGD NEER is trading 120bp above mid and looks too expensive currently but we wouldrecommend buying on dips.
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Chart 20: Singapores high inflation easing towards Asia avg Chart 21: SGD NEER strong
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Singapore Asia AverageCPI % yoy
112
113
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115116
117
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120
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Jan-12
Feb-12
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Apr-12
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Jun-12
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SGD NEER
Source: CEIC, Bloomberg, SEB
Taiwan (TWD)Taiwan should benefit from an export recovery in the US heading into year end and the tech heavy equity market should receiveforeign inflow and the economy should continue to recover. Unlike Seoul, Korea, Taipei property prices are still growing around
8%yoy and credit growth is above 10%yoy. The domestic economy is strong considering exports are still at the early stages of arecovery.
TWD has a two step appreciation process in a cycle. Appreciation at the beginning of the cycle is slow while inflation is low andaccelerates towards the end of the cycle once interest rate hikes are well underway. We think the approach will be similar this timearound. Inflation is currently running low (Chart 22) as the effects of a one time boost in energy prices in early 2012 wear off andreduce the need for currency appreciation. In this environment of USD strength and capital outflow, TWD will weaken but relative toother currencies such as KRW, We think TWD can outperform.
Thailand (THB)Similar to Philippines, Thailand has caught investor interest from a stellar equity performance in 2013. This made sense sinceThailand was experiencing a) a V shaped recovery early in the year post the floods b) fiscal boost from a minimum wage hike andreduction in the corporate tax rate to 23% from 30% and c) light foreign positioning since Thailand only started receiving flows postthe election of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in July 2011 that that removed the political uncertainty. However, the currencyhas lagged the equity performance since the floods required increase in imports for reconstruction and hurt the trade balance andperiodically put Thailand in a current account deficit (Chart 23). Going forward, we think THB will be the more vulnerable currency inthe region since it has very little support from the current account and deleveraging can lead to capital outflow. We would changeour minds if the central bank started to sound more hawkish but that has yet to happen.
Chart 22: Taiwan: lower inflation = less TWD appreciation Chart 23: Thailand: trade balance will improve
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Trade Balance (RHS)
Exports (LHS)
Imports (LHS)
% yoy 3mma bn USD
Source: Bloomberg, CEIC, SEB
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FX Tracker
Performance
What stands out? 1) The cyclical Korea and Taiwan continue to outperform. They lagged the region over the last 12 months andwere likely the least crowded. China is rebounding. Indonesia has finally started adjusting the spot market and has taken the firststep towards improvement 2) Indias rates have broken the trend from favorable monetary policies. Indonesia started hiking interestrates and yields are rising. We think it still has further to rise. 3) Yields are steepening from rise in US longer term yields but we thinkthis will start to flatten where short term rates need to rise to stem capital outflows.
Chart 30: Currencies Chart 31: Equity markets
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(2)(1)01234
KRW
AUD
TWD
DXY
CNH
CNY
EUR
PHP
ADXY
SGD
MYR
THB
JPY
INR
IDR
1M change from 12/08 to 10/09(% vs USD)
(10)(8)(6)(4)
(2)
0
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68
10
HSCEI
Nikkei
SHCOMP
Kospi
SENSEX
TWSE
HSI
MSCIAxJ
EuroStoxx
SPX
KLCI
SET
STI
PCOMP
JCI
1M return from 12/08 to 10/09(%)
Chart 32: 5 year rates Chart 33: 2 year rates
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(20)
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40
60
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PHP
AUD
Bunds
UST
THB
CNY
SGD
MYR
KRW
TWD
JPY
INR
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IDR
AUD
THB
CNY
UST
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KRW
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JPY
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1M change from 12/08 to 10/09(bp)
Chart 34: 2 year 5 year slope Chart 35: Commodities
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INR
IDR
UST
AUD
SGD
MYR
THB
TWD
KRW
JPY
PHP
CNY
1M change from 12/08 to 10/09(bp)
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2.1 1.9
-1.4(2)
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Nat gas Palm oil Oil brent Gold Copper
1M change from 12/08 to 10/09(%)
Source: Bloomberg, SEB
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ForwardsChart 41: 3 month implied carry annualized vs. 1 month ago vs USD
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(2)
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IDR
INR
THB
KRW
AUD
CNH
CNY
MYR
EUR
SGD
HKD
JPY
PHP
TWD
(3)
(2)
(1)
0
1
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39/10/2013 8/12/2013 change over the last 1mth, (rhs)(%) (ppts)
What stands out? Carry is falling in mostplaces as risk off sentiment eases.
CNY NDF carry has fallen from move lowerin fixing. Going long CNY in onshore looks
attractive.
TWD and PHP negative carry hasincreased as sentiment improves on thesetwo currencies.
Chart 42-1: CNH Outright Chart 42-2: CNH forward fwd curve Chart 42-3: CNH forward fwd curve ann.
6.07
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Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
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Chart 43-1: CNY NDF Outright Chart 43-2: CNY NDF fwd curve Chart 43-3: CNY NDF fwd curve ann.
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Current (10-Sep )
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Current (10-Sep )1-mth ago (12-Aug )
(%)
Chart 44-1: CNY Onshore Outright Chart 44-2: CNY onshore fwd curve Chart 44-3: CNY onshore fwd curve ann.
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Current (10-Sep )
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Current (10-Sep )
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(%)
Source: Bloomberg, SEB
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Chart 45-1: HKD Outright Chart 45-2: HKD forward fwd curve Chart 45-3: HKD forward fwd curve ann.
7.74
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Spot 1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
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-0.06
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Current (10-Sep )
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Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
(%)
Chart 46-1: IDR Outright Chart 46-2: IDR forward fwd curve Chart 46-3: IDR forward fwd curve ann.
8,000
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Current (10-Sep )
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Current (10-Sep )
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Chart 47-1: INR Outright Chart 47-2: INR forward fwd curve Chart 47-3: INR forward fwd curve ann.
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Current (10-Sep )
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Current (10-Sep )
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6
8
10
12
14 (%)
Current (10-Sep )
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
Chart 48-1: KRW Outright Chart 48-2: KRW forward fwd curve Chart 48-3: KRW forward fwd curve ann.
1,060
1,070
1,0801,090
1,100
1,110
1,120
1,130
1,140
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
Spot 1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
(%)
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0 (%)
Current (10-Sep )
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
Source: Bloomberg, SEB
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Chart 49-1: MYR Outright Chart 49-2: MYR forward fwd curve Chart 49-3: MYR forward fwd curve ann.
3.02
3.07
3.12
3.17
3.22
3.27
3.32
3.37
Spot 1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
-0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
(%)
-2.0
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
(%)
Chart 50-1: PHP Outright Chart 50-2: PHP forward fwd curve Chart 50-3: PHP forward fwd curve ann.
43.4
43.543.6
43.7
43.8
43.9
44.0
Spot 1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
(%)
-6.0
-5.0
-4.0
-3.0
-2.0
-1.0
0.0
1.0
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
(%)
Chart51-1: SGD Outright Chart 51-2: SGD forward fwd curve Chart 51-3: SGD forward fwd curve ann.
1.256
1.259
1.261
1.264
1.267
1.269
Spot 1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
-0.08
-0.06
-0.04
-0.02
0.00
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
(%)
-0.08
-0.06
-0.04
-0.02
0.00
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )1-mth ago (12-Aug )
(%)
Chart 52-1: THB Outright Chart 52-2: THB forward fwd curve Chart 52-3: THB forward fwd curve ann.
30.0
30.531.0
31.5
32.0
32.5
33.0
33.5
Spot 1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
(%)
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (10-Sep )
1-mth ago (12-Aug )
(%)
Source: Bloomberg, SEB
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Chart 53-1: TWD Outright Chart 53-2: TWD forward fwd curve Chart 53-3: TWD forward fwd curve ann.
28.5
29.0
29.5
30.0
30.5
Spot 1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (20-Aug )
1-mth ago (19-Jul )
-1.00
-0.80
-0.60
-0.40
-0.20
0.00
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (20-Aug )
1-mth ago (19-Jul )
(%)
-2.5
-2.0
-1.5
-1.0
-0.5
0.0
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (20-Aug )
1-mth ago (19-Jul )
(%)
Chart 54-1: EUR Outright Chart 54-2: EUR forward fwd curve Chart 54-3: EUR forward fwd curve ann.
1.300
1.310
1.320
1.330
1.340
Spot 1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (20-Aug )
1-mth ago (19-Jul )
-0.25
-0.20
-0.15
-0.10
-0.05
0.00
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (20-Aug )
1-mth ago (19-Jul )
(%)
-0.22
-0.20
-0.18
-0.16
-0.14
-0.12
-0.10
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (20-Aug )
1-mth ago (19-Jul )
(%)
Chart 55-1: JPY Outright Chart 55-2: JPY forward fwd curve Chart 55-3: JPY forward fwd curve ann.
94.0
95.0
96.097.0
98.0
99.0
100.0
101.0
Spot 1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (20-Aug )
1-mth ago (19-Jul )
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0.0
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (20-Aug )
1-mth ago (19-Jul )
(%)
-0.4
-0.4
-0.3
-0.3
-0.2
-0.2
-0.1
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (20-Aug )
1-mth ago (19-Jul )
(%)
Chart 55-1: AUD Outright Chart 55-2: AUD forward fwd curve Chart 56-3: AUD forward fwd curve ann.
0.86
0.87
0.88
0.89
0.90
0.91
0.92
Spot 1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (20-Aug )
1-mth ago (19-Jul )
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (20-Aug )
1-mth ago (19-Jul )
(%)
2.0
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
1M 3M 6M 9M 12M
Current (20-Aug )
1-mth ago (19-Jul )
(%)
Source: Bloomberg, SEB
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Volatility
Chart 60: 3 month annualized implied volatility
(4)
(2)0
2
468
101214
1618
20
IDR
INR
JPY
AUD
MYR
KRW
THB
EUR
PHP
SGD
TWD
CNH
CNY
(2)
(1)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
89/10/2013
8/12/2013
change over the last 1mth, (rhs)
(%) (ppts)
What stands out? Vol and carry aremoving in different directions, whichtypically means that vol is too high,especially in IDR and INR.
Chart 61: CNH Chart 62: CNY NDF Chart 63: HKD
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
Chart 64: IDR Chart 65: INR Chart 66: KRW
0
5
10
15
20
25
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
0
5
10
15
20
25
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
0
4
8
12
16
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
Chart 67: MYR Chart 68: PHP Chart 69: SGD
0
3
6
9
12
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
0
2
4
6
8
10
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
0
2
4
6
8
10
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
Source: Bloomberg, SEB
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Chart 70: THB Chart 71: TWD Chart 72: EUR
0
2
4
6
8
10
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
0
2
4
6
8
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
0
3
6
9
12
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
Chart 73: JPY Chart 74: AUD
0
5
10
15
20
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
0
3
6
9
12
15
Sep-12 Dec-12 Mar-13 Jun-13 Sep-13
Implied Realized
Source: Bloomberg, SEB
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Forecasts
FX Spot 3M 6M 9M 12M
USD/CNY 6.12 6.10 6.08 6.07 6.06
USD/CNH 6.12 6.10 6.08 6.07 6.06
USD/HKD 7.76 7.80 7.80 7.80 7.80
USD/IDR 11649 12000 11500 11200 11000USD/INR 66.1 65.0 64.5 63.5 63.0
USD/KRW 1096 1100 1080 1070 1060
USD/MYR 3.31 3.40 3.35 3.35 3.30
USD/PHP 44.5 45.3 45.0 45.0 44.5
USD/SGD 1.28 1.30 1.28 1.26 1.25
USD/THB 32.4 33.0 32.5 32.0 31.5
USD/TWD 29.8 30.2 30.0 29.8 29.6
EUR/USD 1.33 1.29 1.27 1.26 1.25
USD/J PY 98 102 103 104 108
EUR/SEK 8.71 8.69 8.65 8.54 8.47
EUR/NOK 8.08 7.93 7.80 7.75 7.72
USD/SEK 6.53 6.78 6.81 6.80 6.79
USD/NOK 6.06 6.15 6.14 6.16 6.18
AUD/USD 0.89 0.88 0.87 0.87 0.86
Policy Rates Current 3M 6M 9M 12M
CH lending 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.25 6.25
CH deposit 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.25 3.25
KR 2.50 2.50 2.50 2.50 2.50
IN 7.25 7.50 7.75 7.75 7.50
ID 7.00 7.50 7.50 7.50 7.50
MA 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.25 3.25
PH 3.50 3.50 3.75 3.75 3.75
TH 2.50 2.75 2.75 3.00 3.00
TW 1.88 1.88 1.88 1.88 2.00
Real GDP % yoy 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
China 9.3 7.8 7.5 7.4 7.0
India 7.5 5.4 5.0 5.6 6.0
Indonesia 6.5 6.2 6.0 5.3 5.5
Korea 3.6 2.0 2.8 3.6 3.5
Singapore 5.3 1.3 2.6 4.1 4.0
US 1.8 2.8 1.6 3.3 3.7
Euro zone 1.6 -0.6 -0.5 0.8 1.7
Sweden 3.7 0.7 1.2 2.6 3.2
Norway 1.2 3.1 1.1 2.7 2.3
CPI % yoy 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
China 3.3 3.5 3.3 3.5 3.4
India WPI 9.5 6.5 5.9 6.5 6.5
Indonesia 5.1 4.3 6.0 5.5 5.5
Korea 2.9 2.2 2.6 2.6 2.5
Singapore 2.8 4.5 3.3 3.5 3.2
US 3.1 2.1 1.7 1.6 1.7
Euro zone 2.7 2.5 1.5 1 0.9
Sweden 3.0 0.9 0.0 1.0 2.0
Norway 1.2 0.7 2.0 1.8 2.3 Source: Bloomberg, CEIC, SEB.
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