BOfAML | It is difficult for forward guidance to be credible when the institution is discussing whether any of its tools or targets are likely to be around in a few months. Embarking on a wide ranging discussion about monetary policy targets, communication and tools, with 25 relevant ECB board members, guarantees a cacophony. Volatility lies ahead for sure, we think.
BofAML | We enter the next decade with interest rates at 5,000-year lows, the largest asset bubble in history, a planet that is heating up, and a deflationary profile of debt, disruption and demographics. We will end it with nearly 1bn people added to the world, a rapidly ageing population, up to 800mn people facing the threat of job automation and the environment on the brink of catastrophic change. At the same time, 3bn more people will be connected online and global data knowledge will be 32x greater than today. The social, political and economic responses to these challenges, all heading to a boiling point this decade, will overhaul traditional paradigms.
Jessie J. (Unigestion) | Growth drivers have stabilised considerably since June, following the end of the slowdown that started in January 2018. The “mid-cycle” pause called by Fed Chair Jerome Powell has led to a one-of-a-kind situation: world growth remains decent while monetary policy has become once again incrementally more accommodative.
Igor de Maack (Natixis) | Years of negative rates may well be coming to an end, with a reversal of investor sentiment for bonds over the last few weeks. In fact, the French 10-year rate is now verging on 0%. However, these years will leave their mark in terms of the extravagance of the monetary policies implemented for the purposes of “Saving Private Capitalism”, lost on the battlefield of excessive debt and driven into the trenches of complex finance.
Christian Scherrmann (DWS) | As has been widely anticipated, the Fed is again lowering key rates by 25 basis points – the third step in the current cycle. Judging from the obligatory statement, it seems quite plausible the Fed might be done with cutting for a while. From now on, its main focus seems to be on monitoring the U.S. economy, rather than, say, on pondering whether the current interest rate level appears appropriate, given the current situation. In short, the Fed is once again data-dependent.
Caixabank Research | After a September full of announcements, the next ECB meeting (24 October) will be transitional, in one sense at least: 31 October will see the end of Mario Draghi´s mandate, the most charismatic president in the institution´s history.
Gilles Moëc (AXA Group) | We knew that the European Central Bank (ECB) was very divided in the run-up to the Governing Council meeting on September 12th, but two weeks later the fallout of what must have been a very fractious discussion is still very much here.
Joachim Fels (PIMCO) | By cutting the deposit rate to -50 basis points, extending forward guidance, introducing a two-tiered system for excess reserves that mitigates the adverse impact of negative rates on bank profitability, and resuming open-ended net asset purchases of EUR 20 billion per month, the European Central Bank (ECB) recently provided clarity about its prospective monetary policy stance for the foreseeable future and thus well beyond the change in leadership from Mario Draghi to Christine Lagarde that takes place at the end of October.
Chris Iggo (AXA IM) | The market is trading like it believes the mid-cycle correction story rather than the impending recession narrative. Equity and credit markets are doing “ok” and rates have bottomed for now.
DWS | “First, do no harm.” That command may, or may not have been part of the Hippocratic Oath among medical practitioners since ancient times. Central bankers, however, appear increasingly keen to follow that maxim on both sides of the Atlantic. On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) once again lowered key rates by “only” 25 basis points to a target corridor of 1.75%-2.00%. And once again, its reasons included subdued inflation as well as risks resulting from weaker global growth and various trade conflicts, justifying another insurance cut. In that sense at least, President Trump has seems to have influenced central-bank policy.