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MARKET MOVER - BNP PARIBAS - Investment Services India

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eta, yield and commodity currencies will remain firm<br />

this year, the outlook for 2011 is less upbeat.<br />

Successful intervention?<br />

The BoJ intervening on behalf of the MOF has<br />

stabilised JPY markets. But further intervention will<br />

be needed to prevent the JPY from appreciating<br />

again. An analysis of JPY-related flows demonstrates<br />

this. While Japanese institutional investors have<br />

invested heavily in foreign bond markets, betting on<br />

the ‘Japanisation’ of Western economies, these JPY<br />

outflows have all been currency hedged.<br />

Consequently, portfolio flows have been currency<br />

neutral. Since M&A related flows have been<br />

insignificant, we believe that most of the JPY<br />

strength has been caused by commercially related<br />

JPY demand. Japanese exports have been JPY<br />

bidding and, if the semi-official Japanese Postbank<br />

had not quietly offered JPY, the USDJPY decline<br />

seen since March would have been even more<br />

dramatic. Currently, commercial JPY flows are<br />

dominant and intervention will not change Japanese<br />

exporters’ need to buy JPY. Hence, the BoJ will have<br />

to intervene in the amount roughly matching the size<br />

of Japan’s current account surplus. Given that<br />

Japan’s reserve to GDP ratio has over the past six<br />

years risen from 16% to 21%, the BoJ has ample<br />

scope to conduct JPY weakening intervention to<br />

keep USDJPY above 80.00. The coming quarter<br />

should see USDJPY slowly grinding lower, but with<br />

the BoJ in the market, the risk of a sharp move lower<br />

may have been prevented.<br />

ECB repo allocation…<br />

Hence, JPY markets should not dent risk appetite,<br />

allowing us to shift focus to the EUR. EMU<br />

economies show a split performance: Germany is<br />

surprising with its strength, while Spain and other<br />

peripheral economies face a double-dip recession.<br />

However, the market has always believed that<br />

Germany is the trend setter for the eurozone and it<br />

will continue doing so until proven wrong. Indeed,<br />

German export-oriented growth has received a big<br />

boost from booming Asian and Middle Eastern<br />

markets. With Chinese economic statistics showing<br />

domestic demand rising strongly and China allowing<br />

its currency to appreciate at a moderate pace,<br />

exporter optimism in coming surveys could be<br />

buoyed even further. Meanwhile, outstanding ECB<br />

reserves have decreased from EUR 900bn to EUR<br />

600bn, indicating that Europe’s banking sector<br />

overall has become less dependent on ECB liquidity.<br />

Nonetheless, this is the extent of the good news. The<br />

ECB has allocated unlimited repo liquidity at the fixed<br />

1% rate. Some 61% of reserves provided by the ECB<br />

have been absorbed by peripheral banks located in<br />

Spain, Portugal, Greece and Ireland. As long as the<br />

ECB provides unlimited access to central bank<br />

Chart 4: Japan: Current Account Surplus Drives<br />

USDJPY<br />

Source: Reuters EcoWin Pro; Current account (12mths sum) (USD), (Bln)<br />

Chart 5: Excess of Reserves Held by European<br />

Commercial Banks with the ECB Reduced<br />

Source: Reuters EcoWin Pro<br />

liquidity, the solvency of peripheral banks is almost<br />

guaranteed. Peripheral banks can even get access to<br />

short-term private funds. However, once the ECB<br />

begins to exit from the unlimited provision of liquidity,<br />

the outlook will change radically. In this case,<br />

peripheral banks will run short of funds, forcing<br />

sovereigns to step in. The creditworthiness of<br />

peripheral sovereigns has been damaged and, with<br />

bond spreads wide, it is not clear that sovereigns’<br />

fund-raising capabilities are sound enough to deal<br />

with additional liquidity demands from its banking<br />

sector.<br />

…will be important for assessing investment<br />

risks<br />

Indeed, the weak banking sector could easily<br />

undermine EMU credit markets. The successful<br />

Spanish sovereign auctions saw little international<br />

participation, with domestic banks the main investors.<br />

Should the ECB cut banks off from unlimited liquidity,<br />

demand for local bonds will suffer – driving spreads<br />

up. Remember, in November 2009, the ECB’s<br />

Hans Redeker 23 September 2010<br />

Market Mover, Non-Objective Research Section<br />

46<br />

www.GlobalMarkets.bnpparibas.com

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