ILS: Shekel Advances After Biden-Netanyahu Call Even As Protests Intensify
Jul-18 14:14
Spot USD/ILS has been on the back foot today, with the shekel outperforming all its EMEA peers except the rand. The rate last deals at 3.6039, some 240 pips lower on the day, unwinding yesterday's gains. A break below Jul 14 low of 3.5974 would turn bearish focus to the 200-DMA at 3.5645. On the flip side, bulls look for gains past Jun 30 high of 3.7308 and towards Jun 2 high of 3.7551.
- While the official readout of the first phone call between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and US President Biden did not mention an invitation to the White House, US NSC spokesman subsequently confirmed that the two leaders agreed to meet in the US, with Netanyahu's office noting that it will happen in "near future." The invitation sowed confusion as the Israeli Prime Minister continues to press ahead with policies which drew sharp criticism from the Biden administration and prevented the POTUS from inviting Netanyahu for months after he took office.
- Street rallies against the government's judicial overhaul intensified, with protesters targeting the Tel Aviv stock exchange, train stages, roads and homes of officials. Trading at the local bourse wasn't disrupted.
- Kan reported that Netanyahu is holding last-minute consultations on the option of softening the controversial "reasonableness" bill, which is set to advance to the final stages of legislative process in the coming days.
- Israel's 12-month ahead inflation expectations fell to +2.8% Y/Y this month from the revised +2.9%, data from the Bank of Israel showed.
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US: Trump's Implied Probability Of Winning GOP Primary Same As Before Indictment
Jun-16 19:19
Former President Donald Trump remains the clear frontrunner to win the 2024 Republican Presidential primary after recovering from a moderate dip following his federal indictment last week, according to data from Smarkets.
- Smarkets shows Trump's implied probability of winning of a touch under 65%, almost identical to the 66.7% he enjoyed immediately before he was indicted by the Department of Justice.
- CBS: "...six in 10 Republican primary voters say he would "definitely" beat Mr. Biden in a 2024 general-election rematch. And comparing data collected before and after federal charges were unsealed, the new indictment has not put a dent into this number — at least not yet."
- Elaine Kamarack at the non-partisan Brookings Institution warns against reading too much into Trump's lead during the 'invisible primary' period of the campaign.
- According to Kamarack, the principle threat to Trump is failing to secure the nomination early or having the primary field thinned to a one-on-one contest: "For Trump to win, he has to win early, and the field of candidates has to be large and stay large after Super Tuesday 2024."
Figure 1: 2024 Republican Presidential Primary Winner
Source: Smarkets
US TSYS: Weaker Rates Discount Rising UofM Sentiment, Lower 1Y Inflation Exp
Jun-16 19:15
- Treasury futures remain weaker, but off morning lows after futures inexplicably reversed a post UofM sentiment data rally, front month 10Y futures slipped to 112-24.5 low, trades above technical support (112-12+, Low Jun 14) at 113-00, yield 3.7730% +.0565.
- No particular headline driver for the reversal as it appeared FI longs took the post UofM rally (sentiment 63.9 vs. 60.0 est, 59.2 prior while 1Y inflation exp falls to 3.3% vs. 4.1% est) as an opportunity to scale back risk ahead the long holiday weekend.
- The 2s10s curve tapped -98.341 low, lowest since March 8 43 year inverted low of appr -110.0, this as short end rates price in projected 25bp hike in one of the next 3 FOMC meets.
- Chances of a 25bp hike next at the July 26 FOMC is approximately 70% with Fed funds implied at 17.6bp. Probability of a 25bp hike over the two meetings that follow remain above 80%: September cumulative at +21.3bp to 5.293%, November cumulative 20.3bp to 5.282%. while December cumulative holds at 11.8bp to 5.197%. At the moment, Fed terminal at 5.290% in Oct'23.
- Mixed policy opinions with the Fed out of blackout: Slowing the pace of interest rate increases gives the Fed more time to assess data, and the Fed can "do more" if slowing demand isn't translating into lower inflation, Richmond Fed Barkin said Friday.
- Conversely, the Federal Reserve must raise interest rates a lot more in order to bring inflation back to target and this week's pause was misguided given stubborn prices, former Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker told MNI earlier.
US: Republican Support Trump's Classified Govt Document Actions Decreases
Jun-16 18:44
A new survey from the Economist/YouGov suggests that Republicans are less likely to approve of former President Donald Trump taking classified government documents than they were last August.
- YouGov: “about one-quarter of Americans (24%) strongly or somewhat approve of Trump taking presidential records with him from the White House to his private residence after leaving office…”
- “Compared to last August, approval of Trump’s actions has fallen 8 percentage points. The most notable drop in approval (14 points) was among Republicans: Currently, 39% approve of Trump taking the records, while last August, 53% did.”
- The survey suggests that while Trump remains the clear frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, Republican support for his actions may be softer than the prevailing wisdom suggests.
Figure 1: Approval of Former President Donald Trump’s Storage of Govt Materials
Source: Economist/YouGov
