Market Brief: Euro undented by Draghi

There were no headline changes to the ECB's current policy stance, with all headline rates remaining the same. Indications are that the bulk of its QE plans will be unveiled in October, some further details revealed in December and then actual tapering commencing in January 2018. The further question on everyone’s lips was whether the ascent of the euro in recent weeks might put the brakes on the ECB’s tapering plans, given the additional drag this might imply for the inflation outlook. That question was more relevant still this morning, with the pointer to an October taper decision sending the Euro higher to a peak of $1.2059 during the press conference, not too far off its 29 August two and a half year high. At the time of writing it stood at $1.2054.
Clearly Mr Draghi was far from rejoicing about the Euro’s current standing; he noted the EUR/USD value of $1.20 (at the time of his press conference), but made no specific comment on the level. Mr Draghi did not give the impression the currency’s recent rise was a tapering show stopper and even erred on the side of seemingly playing down any hype over the Euro’s standing. Indeed, his approach to questions raised in the press conference was to flag the section in the opening statement that ‘the recent volatility in the exchange rate represents a source of uncertainty which requires monitoring’.
On the other side of the pond, New York Fed president William Dudley was the latest US central banker to lay out his views ahead of a policy setting meeting later this month as expectations for an interest rate increases have been scaled back. Dudley reiterated the need to continue raising rates while conceding that the Fed may have to rethink its inflation model. Meanwhile, the threat from North Korea lingers and the prospect remains that Pyongyang may conduct a further missile this weekend to coincide with its “founding day” on 9th September. President Trump said it’s not “inevitable” that the U.S. will end up in a war with North Korea over its continued development of nuclear weapons, though military action remains an option. “North Korea is behaving very badly and it’s got to stop,” Trump said at the press conference.

The day ahead

A slightly quieter day on the data front after expectation had built towards the key ECB announcement yesterday. In the UK we will see some figures out at 9:30am which will help shape expectations for the Q3 GDP growth figures, due out on the 25th October. We also have another US Fed member speaking today Patrick Harker speaks on consumer finance in Philadelphia at 1.45pm.

Thought of the day

An English tree surgeon has reacted to Brexit by transforming his German home into a quirky homage to Britain, complete with red telephone boxes and a life-size model of Queen Elizabeth. "When Britain voted for Brexit I decided to make my own little Britain here in Germany," 53-year-old Gary Blackburn told Reuters at his home in Kretzhaus, 20 miles south of Bonn. Gary is just another example of one of the many different ways people can cope with Brexit. However, one could argue that Gary isn’t really coping at all! If you want to discuss how your business can mitigate the FX impact of Brexit, call the Investec Dealing team on 0800 055 6339.