US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell tried to set many speculations aside in his statement post the recent meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), Powell made the following three things very clear:
1. US Fed policy Bank Rates, and therefore general rate environment, shall stay low till at least 2023.
2. There is no threat of material rise in inflation in near term, and 2% inflation target shall remain valid till 2023. Even a temporary violation of 2% inflation target before 2023 shall not impact the decision to keep rates near zero till 2023.
This is in sharp contrast to the forecasts made by many global strategists, economists and fund managers, who believe that inflation could become a serious problem in 2021-22. In fact Powell expressed his concerns about the disinflationary pressures persisting.
3. The job market is expected to improve and below trend unemployment rate of 4% shall be achieved by 2023.
The Federal Reserve however refrained from announcing any additional liquidity enhancement measures, including increasing the bond buying.
The consensus is reading the Federal Reserve's latest policy statement to mean that (a) USD weakness may persist for some more time at least; (b) The market may continue to drive the Federal Reserve's action insofar as the monetary support (bond or stock buying etc) is concerned; (c) Powell backstop is there but may not be as strong as Draghi backstop.
This long term guidance by Fed must comfort markets and fuel the risk appetite of market participants. I would not like to read too much into the sell-off in markets post the Powell comments. It might be due to unwinding of the positions taken specifically for this event. No announcement related to enhancing Fed's asset purchase program may have disappointed many who were expecting Powell to announce this. But this is most likely a knee jerk reaction.
In this context, the recent statement of RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das is pertinent to note. Addressing to the National Executive Committee of FICCI, Das emphasized as follows:
"On the back of large policy stimulus and indications of the hesitant economic recovery, global financial markets have turned upbeat. Equity markets in both advanced and emerging market economies have bounced back, scaling new peaks after the ‘COVID crash’ in February-March. Bond yields have hardened in advanced economies on improvement in risk appetite, fuelling shift in investor’s preferences towards riskier assets. Portfolio flows to EMEs have resumed, and this has pushed up EME currencies, aided also by the US dollar’s weakness following the Fed’s recent communication on pursuing an average inflation target. Gold prices moderated after reaching an all-time high in the first week of August 2020 on prospects of economic recovery.
Financial market conditions in India have eased significantly across segments in response to the frontloaded cuts in the policy repo rate and large system-wide as well as targeted infusion of liquidity by the RBI. Despite substantial increase in the borrowing programme of the Government, persistently large surplus liquidity conditions have ensured non-disruptive mobilisation of resources at the lowest borrowing costs in a decade. In August 2020, the yield on 10-year G-sec benchmark surged by 35 basis points amidst concerns over inflation and further increase in supply of government papers. Following the RBI’s announcement of special open market operations (OMOs) and other measures to restore orderly functioning of the G-sec market, bond yields have softened and traded in a narrow range in September."
The governor was very guarded in his outlook for the economy. he stated, "high frequency indicators of agricultural activity, the purchasing managing index (PMI) for manufacturing and private estimates for unemployment point to some stabilisation of economic activity in Q2, while contractions in several sectors are also easing. The recovery is, however, not yet fully entrenched and moreover, in some sectors, upticks in June and July appear to be levelling off. By all indications, the recovery is likely to be gradual as efforts towards reopening of the economy are confronted with rising infections. (emphasis supplied)
Obviously, the incumbent governor does not concur with one of his predecessors Dr. C. Rangrajan who appears quite buoyant about the economic recovery in India.
What does it mean for Indian investors?
Unless there is a Lehman type moment in global markets, the Indian equities may continue to remain supported.
Precious metal trade should take a hit.
The bond yields may remain stable, and RBI may maintain yields around current levels even if the food inflation shoots up in next couple of months.
MPC may maintain status quo on policy rates in its next meeting, while continuing to maintain accommodative stance.
Economic growth and therefore corporate earnings may not see a sharp recovery even in FY22.
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