Syz the moment

While the fed is still in qt mode (it has decreased the size of its balance sheet by $200B between May and September), the PBOC is in qe mode having increased its balance sheet by $560B between May and September... Ne-net liquidity is increasing. With global central banks cutting rates at the most aggressive pace since the pandemic and with the PBOC expanding the size of its balance sheet almost 3x more than the Fed is reducing it, it will be interesting to see the consequences on inflation + on gold, silver, etc. Source chart: Jeff Weniger

Depo rate to 3.25%, Main Refi to 3.4%. Guidance is unchanged: ECB to follow data-dependent, Meeting-by-Meeting approach. • Even after this third rate cut of the year, monetary policy remains restrictive in Europe, with the real short-term rate still at a level not seen over the past 15 years. Given the ongoing dynamics in economic activity and inflation, this implies that the ECB will have to continue to lower rates in the coming months, in order to bring its monetary policy to a neutral stance at minimum. Rate cuts at the coming meetings are therefore to be expected, in December and in the course of 2025. Given the worrying trend in economic activity data, an acceleration in the pace of rate cuts, with a possible 50bp cut at the December meeting, cannot be ruled out. If growth in the Eurozone stalls, a faster pace of rate cuts to remove the restrictiveness of the monetary policy, or even to move it into supportive territory, might prove to be warranted. Source chart: Bloomberg

71% of major central banks are now easing their monetary policy, the most since the 2020 CRISIS. This is also in line with the Financial Crisis and the 2001 recession. Source: BofA

Source: Barchart

Source: Bloomberg

Says inflation will drop to 2% in course of 2025. Our take: 👉 As widely expected, the ECB just cut its key rates for the second time this year after a first move in June. The Deposit Facility Rate (the rate at which commercial banks’ deposits at the ECB are remunerated) was lowered by 25bp to 3.50%. The main Refinancing rate (the rate applied to short-term liquidity lent by the ECB to commercial banks) was lowered to 3.65%. 👉After those rate cuts, monetary policy remains restrictive, as short-term interest rates are still significantly above the inflation rate of the euro area. However, this is “another step in moderating the degree of monetary policy restriction”, as stated by the ECB. 👉The ECB appears willing to proceed cautiously and gradually in bringing back its monetary policy stance to a neutral level, as domestic inflation remains higher than its target and wages are still rising at an elevated pace. The encouraging trend toward slowing wage growth witnessed recently has apparently not fully relaxed ECB’s concerns on the risk of persistent underlying inflationary pressures. 📈 ECB macroeconomic projections ECB staff’s projections have been revised slightly lower for GDP growth this year and in the following two. As reflected by the most recent economic data, growth will be soft this year, but it is expected to gradually accelerate in the next two years. Inflation is still expected to slow down toward the 2% target by 2026, with already a significant deceleration due next year. “Core inflation” projections have been marginally revised up for this year and the next on the back of firmer-than-expected price pressures in the service sector. 🚨 Conclusions • Since the rate cut was widely anticipated, today’s main news lies in the outlook for ECB rates. • A rate cut in December already appeared highly likely before today’s meeting and it remains so today, in the continuation of the quarterly pace initiated in June. • There was uncertainty around a potential additional rate cut at the October meeting, with future markets previously assigning a 34% chance on another rate cut at the ECB next meeting in October. • As inflation projections have not been revised lower today (even marginally higher for “core” inflation), and GDP growth expectations have only been marginally lower, the case for a step up in the pace of rate cuts appears less pressing now. The probability of an October rate cut dropped immediately after the announcement, to only 17%. Adrien Pichoud Source chart: Bloomberg

Meanwhile, the market see quarterly ECB rate cuts - see chart below. - European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Gediminas Simkus told Econostream Media that he saw a “clear case” for an interest rate cut in September but regarded the potential for another one in October was “quite unlikely.” - Executive Board member Piero Cipollone told France’s Le Monde newspaper that recent economic data so far had confirmed that inflation was slowing, giving scope for the ECB to lower borrowing costs. “There is a real risk that our stance could become too restrictive and harm the economy”. - However, Bundesbank’s Joachim Nagel continued to warn about premature easing, given elevated wage growth and services inflation, in an interview with the Faz newspaper. Source: Bloomberg, T Rowe

This is 5% higher than the previous record of 460 tonnes set in the first half of 2023. In Q2 2024, central banks bought 183 tonnes of gold, marking a 6% year-over-year increase. On the other hand, this was 39% lower than the 300 tonnes of purchases seen in Q1. The largest buyers were the National Bank of Poland, the Reserve Bank of India, and the Central Bank of Turkey. Why are central banks stocking up on gold? Source: The Kobeissi Letter