ETF Securities Weekly Flows Analysis – Investors took record contrarian positions as the US dollar rallied
- Investors cast doubt on US Dollar rally as they place US$99mn in short USD long EUR ETPs.
- 2017 will likely continue to benefit cyclical and alternative ETPs such as copper and robotics as tail risks decline in the US.
- Headwinds continue for oil and gold ETPs as oil prices remain near 6 month high while gold heads towards its lowest level in 2016.
After a 1% rally in the US Dollar, investors bet against the greenback. US Federal Reserve (Fed) governors surprised the market last week by increasing their expectations of rate hikes next year to three from two previously in their so-called ‘dot plots’. Their first rate increase in a year was well anticipated however. The European Central Bank (ECB), on the other hand, continues to diverge with the Fed, extending its bond-buying program to December 2017 and reducing the amount to buy per month from €80bn to €60bn from April next year. The surprising change in the Fed’s dot plot and policy divergence between the central banks sent the US dollar 1% higher against the Euro and 0.7% higher against the Sterling last week. ETP investors appear to think the move is overdone and placed US$99mn into short USD, long EUR ETPs and sold US$10mn out of long USD, short EUR ETPs.
We expect 2017 to benefit both cyclical and alternative assets. Investors have been piling into industrial metals ETPs, adding US$246mn inflows since February 2016 while robotics and cybersecurity ETPs recorded US$127mn and US$47mn inflows respectively this year. 2017 will likely see a large rotation in investors’ portfolio allocation as US and EU monetary policies diverge further, US treasury yields surge, while a strong US dollar weighs on gold despite the populist threat underpinning demand for the haven asset. We see cyclical assets such as base metals or alternative assets as the next year’s winners (albeit after a short-term correction).
Profit taking from oil ETPs continue as oil remains nears 6-month high. As mentioned in our blog, The mirage of deep oil production cuts, we believe market’s optimism following the OPEC meeting at the end of November is overdone. After rising 5.3% on average earlier this month following the meeting, oil prices jumped above the upper end of our range (US$55/bbl.) in the wake of Saudi Arabia’s announcement earlier last week about potentially cutting production further. While non-OPEC countries have also reduced production, we believe oil prices will pull back as investors acknowledge the gap between the OPEC’s promises and the numbers that will be published in the next oil report. The likelihood for US tight oil to turn on the tap again will add further pressure to oil prices.
Gold close to ending year where it started. Gold ETPs saw US$76.8mn of outflows as its price slipped further. With the Fed unwilling to let inflation rise further, the yellow metal tumbled 2.7% last week and is likely to see further downward pressure next year as the Fed implements a more aggressive rate policy which lead to US dollar appreciation. While political uncertainty remains elevated in Europe with the Brexit and the upcoming elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany, we believe the USD will continue to be a heavier driver of the gold price.
Video Presentation
Edith Southammakosane, Research Analyst at ETF Securities provides an analysis of last week’s performance, flow and trading activity in commodity exchange traded products and a look at the week ahead.
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