Fx

Emerging currencies were under pressure this summer. Save for the Indonesian rupiah, Thai baht, Malaysian ringgit and Chinese yuan, emerging currencies has corrected against the US dollar since 30 June. It is mainly the CEEMEA currencies and, to a lesser extent, Latin American currencies that have underperformed for several reasons...

The Lyxor Hedge Fund Index was down only -0.4% in January, outperforming the MSCI World down -3.8%. 8 Lyxor Strategy Indices out of 12 ended the month in positive territory, led by the Lyxor Fixed Income Arbitrage Index (+1.74%), the Lyxor Merger Arbitrage Index (+0.92%) and the Lyxor L/S Equity Market Neutral Index (+0.83%).

For nearly one month, the renewed strains experienced by US long rates following the good October employment data (despite the shutdown) have triggered a new correction on the part of emerging currencies (even though they have stabilised somewhat of late).

François Hollande, the French President, recently called for action against the strong euro, stating that the economy could end up with an exchange rate “out of line with the fundamentals”. Although plausible, exchange rates are probably “out of line with the fundamentals” most of the time...

PIMCO, a leading global investment management firm, has listed the PIMCO Foreign Currency Strategy Exchange Traded Fund (Ticker: FORX), created to offer investors the potential to benefit from fundamental changes in global currency dynamics by diversifying away from the dollar.