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Central banks of major economies like the US, UK and Japan turned to quantitative easing (QE) at a time where they were unable to push interest rates any lower. The European Central Bank (ECB) launched its first large scale of asset purchases in 2015 and was among the latest central bank to join the QE bandwagon. How QE works The ECB adopted the QE program to address the risks of a prolonged period of low inflation and help the Eurozone to return to the desired inflation level.

The QE, also known as the Asset Purchase Program (APP), consists of: Corporate Sector Purchase Programme (CSPP) Public Sector Purchase Programme (PSPP) Asset-backed Securities Purchase Programme (ABSPP) Third Covered Bond Purchase Programme (CBPP3) On 13 December 2018, the ECB decided to end the net purchases under the APP and announced that it would keep reinvesting cash from maturing bonds for a long time after its first interest rate hike. Market Expectations As the economic sentiment in the eurozone is worsening rapidly, investors are expecting the central bank to announce a robust stimulus package at its next meeting on Thursday: An Interest Rate Cut and Resuming Quantitative Easing. However, we saw divergent opinions on whether the central bank should resume asset purchases.

An Interest Rate Cut An interest rate policy by itself might not be enough, as cutting rates that are already negative will bring little help to the markets. If the central bank resume bond purchases, it could boost monetary and financing conditions. However, we are seeing divergent opinions on whether the central bank should resume asset purchases.

QE2 – The Second Round of Quantitative Easing In the height of the eurozone crisis from 2011-2014, such policies were probably justified. The current weakness in the euro- area might not be weak enough to warrant such a step, and there is now much skepticism on recommencing such non-standard and controversial monetary policies. The ECB policymakers have also dampened expectations of the resumption of bond purchases lately.

Market participants were initially expecting Mario Draghi to end its term with a significant package of monetary stimulus before Christine Lagarde takes over. It was are largely priced-in and now that the expectations eased ahead of the meeting, we are seeing European bond yields bouncing off record lows. Money markets and the foreign exchange markets are still expecting a traditional monetary policy intervention – at least a 10-basis point rate cut.

The Euro received a boost on Monday on hopes of German fiscal stimulus, though some expectations of monetary easing have limited the gains. EURUSD (H4 Chart) Source: GO MT4 If the central bank failed to satisfy dovish expectations already instilled in the markets, the shared currency may get a boost. The EURUSD pair may be trading sideways around the 1.10 level ahead of the ECB meeting on Thursday.

The pair could pick up a strong bid if the central bank falls short of expectations.

The week kicked off with a series of ECB speeches, and markets participants were gearing up to have more updates on the Eurozone economy, interest rate and Italy. Investors were keen to see whether the ECB downplays the slowdown in the German economy and the Italian Budget risks. We bring you a summary of the main headlines following the speeches: ECB’s Praet Speech: Peter Praet is a member of the ECB’s Executive Board since 2011.

The most captivating headlines from the latter are probably: “ The eurozone has lost some growth momentum, and headwinds are becoming increasingly noticeable.” He also argued that there is limited spillover from Italy so far. Praet acknowledged how the factors related to protectionism, financial market volatility and vulnerabilities in emerging markets are creating headwinds. He reiterated that the ECB policy will remain predictable and will proceed at a gradual pace.

He mentioned that it would need a big change in scenarios not to abide by rate guidance. ECB’s Nowotny Speech: Ewald Nowotny is the governor of the National Bank of Austria and member of the European Central Bank (ECB)’s governing council. Nowotny discussed the quantitative easing program and that the ending process poses little risk to financial stability.

He believes that “ a well-communicated exit may benefit financial health and very low rates for a long time may impair stability ”. ECB’s Coeuré Speech: Benoît Cœuré is a member of the ECB's Executive Board. The speech was mainly focused on Growth, Europe and Togetherness.

His speech captures how to reap the benefits of the Single Market. He highlighted how Europe’s East is not catching up which might question the value of the EU. “There have been some notable improvements in certain countries over time, but in others the process of gradually catching up with their EU peers appears to have stalled, or even to have backtracked, in recent years.” “And if there is no credible prospect of lower-income countries catching up soon, there is a risk that people living in those countries begin questioning the very benefits of membership of the EU or the currency union.” ECB’s President Draghi’s Speech: The President provided further insights into the euro area outlook and the ECB’s monetary policy. “The data that have become available since my last visit in September have been somewhat weaker than expected.” “A gradual slowdown is normal as expansions mature and growth converges towards its long-run potential…. Some of the slowdowns may also be temporary.” “Underlying drivers of domestic demand remain in place.” Overall, he expressed that the ECB maintained their view that the economy was still in line with expectations.

However, inflationary pressures were lower than expected which means that while bond purchases are set to end in December, the ECB will maintain significant monetary stimulus due to the moderation in recent data.

Dissecting the FOMC Statement The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates overnight by 25 basis points, taking the US Federal Funds rate to 2.25%. The rate cut was mostly seen as a hawkish one. In the press conference, Chair Powell said that the central bank’s rate cut was a “mid-cycle adjustment to policy ” rather than “the beginning of a long series of rate cuts.” We have dissected the July FOMC statement in comparison with the June statement to highlight the changes for ease of reference.

Deutsche Bank Revives The Failure of Lehman Brothers Deutsche Bank’s woes dominated headlines this week. On Sunday, the multinational investment bank announced 18,000 job cuts around the globe by 2022 and shut down its global stock trading business as part of a sweeping overhaul. It was reported that the cuts had been anticipated for weeks.

We watched the staff of the German bank being laid off around the world including, Sydney, New York, and London offices this week. It was difficult to witness the lay-offs of the troubled bank without reviving the moments of Lehman Brothers. Since the 2008 financial crisis, the bank started its downfall over a series of costly scandals, alleged wrongdoing, and years of mismanagement.

The massive restructuring did little to boost investor sentiment. The market is worried that the overhaul is not enough to deliver shareholders’ value in the future. In the face of its large workforce cuts, there are concerns on the revenue stream from the core European retail and corporate banking.

Additionally, in the era of low global interest rates and an-already struggling European banking sector, Deutsche Bank’s restructuring does not inspire a lot of confidence. Just recently, the Chief Executive Officer, Christian Sewing was celebrating its first major win when Deutsche Bank passed the stress test after it repeatedly failed past exams. The bank’s share price has increased since the beginning of June.

However, this week were the bearer of bad news. The bank might not have anticipated the lack of optimism on the revamp plans. The market has doubts over the restructuring and the ability of the German lender to meet its 2022 profitability goal is highly questionable.

Its share price fell by more than 10% from a high of 8.22 last week to a low of 7.28 this week! Source: Bloomberg Terminal (1 Month Chart) The week got worse as Deutsche Bank is being dragged in a wider probe of a 1MDB scandal. The investigation adds to the list of other high-profile government probes.

The restructuring has not been met with optimism by global rating agencies as well. Now is probably not the time to test the buy the dip strategy.

Critical Hours for Brexit As the clock ticks for Brexit, Brussels and London seem to be working harder than before on their differences for a last-minute Brexit deal. The headlines in the past 48 hours have renewed optimism that the UK and European Union may secure a deal. However, even though the negotiations appear to be moving in the right direction and the related parties are keen to get a deal done, there is still some scepticism on the pace of developments ahead of the EU meeting.

Last- Minute Deal If there are enough concessions to allow for a deal, Prime Minister Boris Johson will have a deal to put through to Parliament in a special sitting on Saturday, the 19 th of October. The circumstances to call for a Saturday meeting are still not clear and are based on how the negotiations unfold. The recent flexibility on both sides is so far paving the way to the UK Prime Minister bringing a deal back from the EU to table in a special meeting on Saturday.

Deal or No Deal The Prime Minister will be forced to ask for a delay - deal or no deal. In the case of a deal this week, it will be a race against time trying to finalise an agreement and arrange for the draft to pass through the votes to exit the European Union on the 31 st of October. But the delay will be mostly to complete the formalities of a deal and will probably not dampen the recent optimism.

In the likelihood, that a deal with the EU is stalled or the deal that the Prime Minister negotiated with the EU is blocked in Parliament, the Prime Minister will be forced to seek for an extension under the Act of Parliament to the Brexit withdrawal data unless he finds a way around the Act. Markets Reactions Brexit hopes have steered risk sentiment in the European markets as the three-year-long Brexit saga seems to be coming to an end. It could be exhaustion that has caused both the EU and UK to be more flexible in allowing Brexit to happen.

European indices rose higher while the FTSE 100 closed slightly in the red due to a resurgent pound. Global equities rallied across the board despite growth forecasts from the IMF. According to the IMF, the global economy is growing at its slowest pace since the financial crisis and would hit only 3% this year.

The UK is expected to grow at 1.2% in 2019 compared to 1.4% last year due to Brexit-related uncertainties. Source: Bloomberg Terminal The British Pound As the UK appears to be on the point of a breakthrough on a Brexit deal, the Pound is soaring and the Sterling has room for more upside movement if Brexit hurdles are cleared. However, in anticipation of more clarity this Wednesday, the GBPUSD pair is in the consolidation phase just below the 1.28 level.

GBPUSD (3 Day-Chart) Source: Bloomberg Terminal We expect the Sterling pairs to remain volatile ahead of the summit! All in all, the path of the Pound in either direction would be sharp and volatile. A deal with the EU backed by parliament could send the pair rallying to 1.40 level while a disruptive no-deal outcome could see the pair plummeting to the lowest level seen in 2016.

XAUUSD Analysis 8 – 12 May 2023 The gold price outlook is positive in the medium term. Although last week's closing of the buying pressure bar would indicate a loss of buying momentum due to the weekly selloff. But the price is still moving above the 2000 support, it is very likely that the price will continue to move above the 2000 level and there is a chance to rise further to test the 2070 resistance which is a key resistance level.

Weekly time frame and the price line that gold used to make the most in history. Forecasting the price of gold In the short term, the price may rise to test the resistance 2070 as the current price has not broken the support 2000 and there is also buying pressure to push the price up. But if there is a downward adjustment, the 2000 support is an important support that should be monitored closely as it is the price that broke out last week.

GBPUSD Analysis 8 – 12 May 2023 The GBPUSD outlook is bullish in the medium term. At present, the price has risen to test and corrected sideways at the key resistance zone where it formed a Double Top pattern on the daily timeframe 1.24470 with strong buying momentum continuing. When looking at the buy candlestick in the Weekly time frame before continuing to rise to the resistance of 1.26660, but not yet and the price still does not show a strong selling candle to be seen clearly.

Indicates the clarity of the uptrend in both short and medium term as the price can finally break out to stand on the resistance 1.24470. Forecasting that price There is a very high probability that the price will move within the cap between the support 1.24470 (where the price breaks up) and the resistance 1.26660, which is the next resistance at the daily time frame level in order to create a new high at Higher, where the key support is 1.24470, which is the support level at the H4 and Daily timeframes, which are expected to pull the price down to test. If the price is unable to stand on the resistance 1.26660 and continue to rise.

EURUSD Analysis 8 – 12 May 2023 EURUSD Price can be viewed both positively and negatively. As EURUSD is currently sideways around 1.09900, which was the previous high on the Weekly and Daily timeframes and is starting to lose buying momentum based on the weekly buy candlestick. Past closes as Doji bars (significantly) indicate market hesitation.

After adjusting up to test the latest High before having selling pressure down during the week. Forecasting that price There may be both an upward and downward direction in the short and medium term, like the Daily time frame, as the loss of buying momentum last week after trying to create a new higher high around the 1. 10900 price line has made the trend. Or the trend of the price is less clear.

If EURUSD manages to sideways and stay on the 1.09900 level without breaking out first, the next target for price to test is resistance 1.11650 in order to create a new high higher than the previous high, but If the pair fails to hold on to the 1.09900 level and then rises to the 1.11650 resistance level, it is possible that it will test the 1.08800 support area.