Week results - between Brexit the NFP

3 feb 2020

The main event of the previous week was not a meeting of the Bank of England or even a decision of the Fed (both the Central Banks left monetary policy parameters unchanged). This is not data on US GDP (annual growth rates have been the weakest since 2016: 2.3% in 2019 compared to 2.9% in 2018), but the coronavirus epidemic in China. Yes, so far the epidemic has been localized in China. But this is not easier. The magnitude of the coronavirus epidemic has already exceeded the 2003 SARS. And the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of coronavirus a global emergency.

So last week, the markets were busy on the one hand counting the victims of the epidemic (more than 300 deaths and more than 15,000 cases), and on the other hand, counting the economic damage. China extended the New Year weekend for another week. That is, another week 2/3 of the Chinese economy will be closed. The magnitude of the losses is not yet clear, as the epidemic continues, but it is already clear that we are talking about tens of billions of dollars. The chances of China's GDP growth rate dropping below 6% now seem almost 100%.

So the fears and concerns of the global recession have intensified. The Chinese stock market today is trading in a deep minus (about -8%) despite all the efforts of the Government and the Central Bank.

Despite such a regrettable situation, trading is an opportunity that can and should be taken advantage of. For the long-term, it is worth selling in super bought stock markets, but in the medium-term and locally, the purchase of safe-haven assets (gold and the Japanese yen) and the sale of risky assets such as the Russian ruble look great.

Actually, we voiced this plan last week, but as the epidemic grows, the relevance of our positions only grows.

Another significant event of the past week was Brexit. On January 31, Great Britain officially left the EU. We already wrote that buying pounds remains one of the best trading opportunities at FOREX in terms of potential in 2020. Whether it is implemented or not will show the progress of trade negotiations between the UK and the EU. But if successful, a pound above 1.40 could very well become a reality.

The upcoming week will be saturated with various kinds of macroeconomic statistics. But the main attention will still be focused on Friday statistics on the US labor market and NFP figures. Our thoughts and forecasts on this subject will be described closer to Friday. In the meantime, we continue to monitor the development of the epidemic and investor sentiment.