USD Strength vs. Weakness in Commodity and Asian Currencies USD strength 7.9 8 6.7 3 Safe-Haven flows 1.9 Majors Spot Changes vs. USD in % terms Year-to-date 23 Sep 2015 Commodity- linked currencies 0.1 AXJs Currencies with relatively open economies Commodity- linked currencies -2-7 -12-0.1-1.5-8.1-10.0-10.3-2.8-3.7-4.5-4.6-6.8-8.4-9.1-17 -14.0-15.8-22 Fed US TWI USD Index -19.7 CHF JPY GBP EUR NOK CAD AUD NZD HKD CNY TWD PHP INR SGD KRW THB IDR MYR -19.6 Note: US TWI refers to Federal Reserve trade-weighted USD index; USD Index refers to DXY Source: Bloomberg, Federal Reserve Bank, Maybank FX Research 2
Mar-04 Jun-05 Sep-06 Dec-07 Mar-09 Jun-10 Sep-11 Dec-12 Mar-14 Jun-15 Global Growth Momentum Appears to be Decelerating 104 OECD Leading Indicator 103 102 101 100 99 98 97 96 95 OECD China US Brazil UK Australia Major 5-Asia 94 Source: OECD, Bloomberg, Maybank FX Research 3
Malaysia Indonesia Singapore Thailand Philippines ASEAN Not Immune to External Vulnerabilities As Defence is Wearing ASEAN Currency change vs USD (Indexed to 100 = 31 Dec 2014) Biggest Decline in FX Reserves MYR, IDR 5% % Change in ASEAN FX Reserves YTD Sep 2015 SGD 0% 1% THB PHP -5% -3% -1% -6% IDR -10% MYR -15% -20% -18% 4
Ringgit Weakness Could Persist But Likely to be Temporary Ringgit is undergoing an adjustment, following the commodity bust and continues to face downside pressure due to both external and domestic concerns - USD/MYR USDMYR de-pegged Global Financial Crisis US QE, US economy macro-economic adjustment USD weakness USDMYR overshooting risk Remains vulnerability to external economic shocks; Pick up in financial market volatility arising out of global slowing growth concerns including China; Oil price volatility (remains above historical average); Renewed oil price weakness (down about 26% since May 2015); Re-escalation of domestic/ contingent liability risks affecting foreign investor sentiment; Amid possible Fed tightening. 5
Ringgit Remains Vulnerable to External Development Low Import Cover Ratio Measure of Reserve adequacy in terms of imports (No. of Months) Low Reserves to Short-Term External Debt Measure of Reserve adequacy in terms of Short-Term External Debt (no. of times) Malaysia remains the weakest in the region Malaysia remains the weakest in the region 6
May-13 Jul-13 Sep-13 Nov-13 Jan-14 Mar-14 May-14 Jul-14 Sep-14 Nov-14 Jan-15 Mar-15 May-15 Jul-15 Sep-15 Ringgit Continues to be Driven by Oil, USD and Investor Sentiment MYR Weakness intertwined with Oil Price Weakness Ringgit s Decline continues to be driven by investor sentiment 120 Brent (US$/bbl) USDMYR spot (RHS, inverted), 2.9 Equity and bond flow (cumulative as of Jan 2013) in MYR bn (LHS); USDMYR (RHS, inverted) 100 3.1 3.3 80 3.5 60 3.7 40 3.9 20 4.1 4.3 0 Brent USDMYR spot (RHS; Inverted) 7
Ringgit Driven By Re-escalation of Idiosyncratic (Domestic) Risks 3.2 Idiosyncratic Risks (LHS), USDMYR (RHS) 4.5 3 4.3 2.8 4.1 2.6 3.9 2.4 3.7 2.2 3.5 2 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15 Jul-15 Aug-15 Sep-15 3.3 Malaysia Idiosyncratic Index USDMYR (RHS) Malaysia idiosyncratic index controls for exogenous factors that include changes in oil prices and USD strength. A higher read on the index refer to higher idiosyncratic risks while a lower read refers to lower idiosyncratic risks 8
But Ringgit Weakness Likely to be Temporary as Fundamentals Intact Ringgit weakness is temporary and is not a reflection of underlying fundamentals as fundamentals remains strong and is not facing any balance of payment crisis Percentage-points Contribution to Malaysia Quarterly Real GDP YoY Growth Trade and Current Account Remain in Surplus Source: Bloomberg, Maybank IB-Research, Maybank FX Research 9
USDMYR: Bullish Momentum USDMYR could challenge its previous all-time high of 4.3790 (10 Sep). Further upside could see the pair towards 4.42 levels (123.6% fibonacci projection of Sep high to Sep low). Downside support at 4.30 (61.8% fibo retracement), before 4.26 levels (21 DMA). 10
SGDMYR: Upside Pressure But Could Be Limited Upside pressure remains. But we see the topside on the cross capped due to expected SGD weakness leading into MAS bi-annual monetary policy meeting (sometime between 5 and 14 Oct). Resistance seen at 3.0780 levels (15 Sep). 11
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