Australian dollar sags as oil guts the world

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DXY was up overnight:

AUD was down but not as much JPY:

Which means CNY is next:

Oil is now a global wrecking ball:

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Oil, DXY up and CNY down means the rest writes itself. Commodities, miners, EM down:

Junk is still howling “trouble ahead”:

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As oil pushes yields higher:

And stocks lower:

Westpac has the wrap:

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Event Wrap

US wholesale inventories rose 2.2% in April (est. 2.1%), with notable strength in machineries.

Eurozone GDP for Q1 was finalised at 0.6%m/m and 5.4%y/y (est. 0.3% and 5.1%).

German industrial production in April rose 0.7% (est. 1.2%, prior -3.7%).

UAE Energy Minister Al-Mazrouei warned that the return of Chinese demand will likely push oil prices higher, while the CEO of global commodities trader Trafigura said oil prices could reach $150 a barrel with demand destruction likely by the end of the year.

Event Outlook

China: The trade surplus is expected to widen in May as some export operations begin the early stages of emerging from lockdowns (market f/c: US$57.7bn). Meanwhile, the support from authorities should see new loans expand and M2 money supply growth remain robust in May (market f/c: CNY1223.0bn and 10.3% respectively). Note the M2 and loan data are due 9-15 June.

Eur: The ECB is expected to announce the conclusion of asset purchases at their June policy meeting; the key focus will be on the Council’s updated forecasts and any guidance surrounding the path for policy rates over the second half of this year.

US: Initial jobless claims are set to remain at a low level (market f/c: 207k).

US inventories are up again. Even as oil cuts all hope of Fed pauses to shreds. It is only a matter of time before it goes one hike too far and the US consumer buckles under the combined energy, rates shock, then inventories destock into a major trade for Europe and China. This means DXY has another leg up and CNY another leg down.

We all know what that means. TSLombard:

Simultaneous USD strength and CNY weakness spells bad news for the world economy. A strong dollar acts a destabilising force via a number of channels that end up weighing on global trade, squeezing cross-border lending and amplifying balance sheet currency mismatch risks. All this as the Fed pushes through with QT, reducing global dollar liquidity and thereby rendering the refinancing of global dollar-denominated debt more difficult. What is more, a depreciating CNY puts more pressure on EM economies’ trade competitiveness and translates to diminishing support for industrial metal prices: it is no coincidence that the recent pullback has gone hand in hand with a weaker CNY.

No, is not a coincidence. AUD included.

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About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.