EM ASIA CREDIT: MNI EM Credit Market Wrap - Asia
10yr U.S. treasury yields were more or less unchanged on the day at 4.2%. Overall a relatively quiet day following on from Labour Day holidays in the region yesterday, though the bias for spreads is weaker. Asia EM govie/agency bond spreads are up to 5p wider, the underperformer being the Philippines (+5bp). Asia equities were better on the day with the Hang Seng +1.7%. On the political front, South Korea is back in the frame with the main opposition candidate, Lee Jae-myung, found guilty for violating election laws. There is a possibility, depending on the timing of the legal process, that Lee may be disqualified from running, though this seems a low probability given the election is June 3rd. Nevertheless this sets the stage for volatility in credit.
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EGBS: Citi Retain Long Duration Bias Into Tariff Announcement, Eye IRISH In MT
Citi note that “even after adjusting for fiscal spending, Bunds lag by around 15bp on a regression with a basket of tariff-sensitive EUR equities”.
- They go on to write “into today’s tariff announcement, we prefer bullish/dovish exposure to EUR duration. For EGB spreads, the indifference towards richening Bund swap spreads has tended to be short-lived in the past”.
- “The recent EGB resilience might have been driven by relatively clean positioning, investors waiting for more clarity and prospects of more ECB rate cuts in case of punitive tariffs but ignores their growth implications.”
- As a result, they “retain bearish exposure to periphery spreads into the announcement, with the 10-Year BTP/Bund spread now close to the tight end of its range”.
- At a more granular level, they note that “tariff risks within EMU-11 seem most acute for Germany, Italy, and Ireland while Spain and France seem relatively shielded. This was likely behind the YtD underperformance of IRISH credit, which continued yesterday, despite still-strong fundamentals otherwise. These headwinds are likely to persist for now, although we believe value in the Irish credit is being built for the medium-term”.
FOREX: FX OPTION EXPIRY
Of note:
EURUSD ~1bn at 1.0800.
EURUSD 2.3bn at 1.0800 (thu).
USDJPY 1.19bn at 150.00 (thu).
EURUSD 1.53bn at 1.0800 (fri).
USDCAD 1.19bn at 1.4350 (fri).
AUDUSD ~1bn at 0.6300 (fri).
AUDUSD 1.43bn at 0.6350 (tue).
- EURUSD: 1.0700 (1.11bn), 1.0750 (525mln), 1.0790 (362mln), 1.0800 (972mln).
- USDJPY: 149.80 (278mln), 149.95 (299mln).
- USDCAD: 1.4300 (307mln), 1.4350 (425mln).
- NZDUSD: 0.5775 (427mln).
OPTIONS: Expiries for Apr02 NY cut 1000ET (Source DTCC)
- EUR/USD: $1.0790-00(E1.9bln)
- USD/JPY: Y149.80-95($577mln)
- USD/CAD: C$1.3780($1.1bln), C$1.4400-15($924mln)
- USD/CNY: Cny7.3500($1.3bln)
