Category: Economy

Analysis of the global economy

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China manufacturing remains under duress | Westpac

Elliot Clarke

From Elliot Clarke:

There was little new information in the headline China manufacturing PMI results for May other than confirmation that the sector remains under duress. The official NBS measure was unchanged at 50.1, while the Caixin PMI edged 0.2ppts lower to 49.2. Also released today, the official non-manufacturing PMI deteriorated from 53.5 to 53.1.

…..For manufacturing, both new order indexes deteriorated in May, to (a still expansionary 50.7) for the NBS survey and a (contractionary) 49.7 for the Caixin measure. This modest discrepancy corresponds to the greater external focus of the Caixin measure and the poor state of global demand. Export orders are falling according to Caixin respondents and are static amongst NBS’ survey participants.

Stocks of finished goods continue to contract, yet the absence of orders means that a pipeline of new work is struggling to build. On that basis, it seems unlikely that production will strengthen materially in the near term.

Currently production is best described as stagnant…..

Given the production and orders detail, it is unsurprising that employment continues to contract outright, at 48.2 and 46.3 respectively for the NBS and Caixin surveys.

Source: Westpac: China PMI update May 2016

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Gold tanked? Not yet!

Gold broke below its recent flag formation, warning of a test of support at $1200/ounce.

Gold

Selling is driven by expectations of a Fed interest rate hike in June …..and recent Chinese stimulus which postponed Yuan devaluation against the Dollar. But expectations of a rate hike are causing a sell-off of the Chinese Yuan, with the USDCNY strengthening over the last few weeks.

USDCNY

…Which in turn will cause the Chinese to sell foreign reserves to support the Dollar peg (…..else devalue which would panic investors and cause a downward spiral). Sale of Dollar reserves by China would drive the Dollar lower.

Dollar Index

…and Gold higher. I remain bullish as long as support at $1200/ounce holds.

Disclosure: Our Australian managed portfolios are invested in gold stocks.

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Death of America’s department stores

From Bob Bryan:

Old-school retail has been getting walloped lately…..

Torsten Sløk, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank, has one chart in his monthly chartbook that lays out a pretty straightforward reason for the decline. In the chart, Sløk presents the startling decrease in the amount of income Americans spend on clothing….

Source: HERE IT IS: One brutal chart shows death is imminent for America’s department stores | Business Insider

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The high-rise boom is over

From The AFR:

Macquarie Bank is planning to hit the brakes on lending to high rise and high density apartment dwellings in up to 120 postcodes around the nation amid growing fears about falling demand and oversupply. A confidential memo from the bank to brokers announces that from May 23 it will require a maximum loan to value ratio of 70 per cent, which means buyers will have to stump-up another 10 per cent deposit…

Leith van Onselen:

Macquarie’s latest actions, of course, also follows curbs by other major lenders aimed at mitigating exposure to high-rise developments, including:

  • tightening of lending criteria….
  • increased mortgage rates for investors; and
  • refusing to lend to overseas buyers…..

Every tightening of criteria by Australia’s mortgage lenders represents another nail in the high-rise apartment boom’s coffin.

Source: Macquarie joins high-rise lending crack-down – MacroBusiness

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The Internet of Things: it’s arrived and it’s eyeing your job

From Malcolm Maiden:

The Internet of Things is “billions of connected devices from vending machines to mining equipment, aircraft engines and their componentry, agricultural sensors and cars,” [Andy] Penn said in his first keynote speech as Telstra CEO in July last year.

It both offers opportunities and poses threats. Penn mentioned in his first speech for example that a Committee for Economic Development of Australia report on Australia’s future workforce had estimated that almost 40 per cent of the jobs that exist in Australia had a moderate to high likelihood of disappearing in the next 10 to 15 years.

“Machine learning is the biggest driver of this because of its implications for the service industry,” he said. “In future, many traditional services type activities will be done by computers more quickly, more cheaply and more accurately.

“New jobs will be created by the Internet of Things, too of course. We just don’t know yet exactly where they will be…..”

Source: The Internet of Things: it’s arrived and it’s eyeing your job

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Treasuries fall and Dollar strengthens on latest Fed minutes

Treasury yields rose and prices fell sharply after release of minutes from the Fed’s latest monetary policy meeting. The April minutes reveal that policy makers see a June interest-rate hike as appropriate if labor markets and economic growth continue to strengthen. The 10-year Treasury yield jumped 12 basis points, suggesting a rally to test resistance at 2.0 percent.

10-year Treasury yield

The Dollar strengthened against China’s Yuan, testing medium-term resistance at CNY 6.55. Breakout would force the PBOC to further deplete foreign reserves in support of the Yuan. The alternative of an uncontrolled descent would instill panic and encourage capital flight to gold and the USD.

USDCNY

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Wage growth hits fresh lows | ABC News

From Michael Janda:

Wage growth has hit a fresh record low, with workers’ pay rising just 0.4 per cent last quarter and 2.1 per cent over the past year. The latest seasonally adjusted Bureau of Statistics Wage Price Index is growing at the lowest level since the data began in the September quarter of 1998. The weakness in pay rises is particularly evident in the private sector, where wages edged just 1.9 per cent higher over the year to the end of March….

Wage Growth: ABS Index

Says a lot for the state of the economy when compared to US wage growth which has recovered to close to 2.5pc a year:

US Average Hourly Earnings: Production and Nonsupervisory Employees, Total Private

Source: Wage growth hits fresh lows, ABS index shows – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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Oil turns lower as greenback rallies on Fed minutes

From Mark Shenk:

Oil dropped from a seven-month high as the US dollar surged after the Federal Reserve published minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting suggesting a June hike is possible. Commodities fell as the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the US currency against 10 others, surged. The April minutes showed that policy makers saw an interest-rate hike appropriate in June if labour markets and economic growth continued to strengthen…..

Source: Oil turns lower as greenback rallies on Fed minutes

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Rising inflation, Dollar weakens

The consumer price index (CPI) ticked up 1.14% (year-on-year) for April 2016, on the back of higher oil prices. Core CPI (excluding energy and food) eased slightly to 2.15%.

CPI and Core CPI

Inflation is muted, but a sharp rise in hourly manufacturing (production and nonsupervisory employees) earnings growth (2.98% for 12 months to April 2016) points to further increases.

Manufacturing Hourly Earnings Growth

Despite this, long-term interest rates remain weak, with 10-year Treasury yields testing support at 1.65 percent. Breach would signal another test of the record low at 1.50% in 2012. The dovish Fed is a contributing factor, but so could safe-haven demand from investors wary of stocks….

10-year Treasury Yields

The Dollar

The US Dollar Index rallied off long-term support at 93 but this looks more a pause in the primary down-trend (signaled by decline of 13-week Momentum below zero) than a reversal.

US Dollar Index

Explanation for the Dollar rally is evident on the chart of China’s foreign reserves: a pause in the sharp decline of the last 2 years. China has embarked on another massive stimulus program in an attempt to shock their economy out of its present slump.

China: Foreign Reserves

But this hair of the dog remedy is unlikely to solve their problems, merely postpone the inevitable reckoning. The Yuan is once again weakening against the Dollar. Decline in China’s reserves — and the US Dollar as a consequence — is likely to continue.

USD: Chinese Yuan

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Retail sales lift

Retail sales (excluding motor vehicles and fuel) jumped to a 2.96% year-on-year increase for April 2016, climbing back above Core CPI to reflect a real increase.

US Retail Sales ex Motor Vehicles and Fuel

We are still waiting on light vehicle sales for April. An upturn would indicate reviving consumer confidence in the economy.

US Light Vehicle Sales

An upturn in business sales is also needed, to spur new investment.

US Business Sales

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