Today’s flash crash in the FX markets was surprising to many of us. The triggers behind the slump in the currency’s markets are vague, and everyone was left wondering about a reasonable explanation. First of all, we think it is important to note that we are in a low volume trading environment and any reaction/news can be exacerbated in such thin markets.
Manufacturing Activity A series of PMI reports released on Monday and Wednesday highlighted the weakness throughout the global manufacturing sector which has increased fears about the outlook for global growth. Caixin Manufacturing PMI fell from 50.2 to 49.7 German Markit Manufacturing PMI fell from 51.8 to 51.5 EZ Markit Manufacturing PMI fell from 51.8 to 51.4 Canadian Markit Manufacturing PMI fell from 54.9 to 53.6 US Markit Manufacturing PMI fell from 55.3 to 53.8 The heightened concerns brought additional turbulence in the stock markets when trading resumed on Wednesday, the first trading day of the year 2019. Apple’s Revenue Forecasts Apple’s move to downgrade sales on slowing iPhone sales in China fueled the fears about the global economy.
Investors fled to safety and sought safe-haven assets like the Japanese Yen which surged through key support levels. Major currencies crashed against the Yen before paring some of the losses. The strong moves in the Yen pairs prompted speculators also to believe that Japanese traders were forced to exit their short yen positions.
USDJPY, AUDJPY, NZDJPY, GBPJPY, CHFJPY and EURPJY (Hourly Charts) Source: GO MT4 In the stock markets, given that Apple is the bellwether for the technology sector, the surprise announcement weighed on the technology stocks in the Asian session. The performance in Asia/Pacific region was mixed, and investors struggled to find a direction. Source: Bloomberg Ter minal We may see more downgrades in the months to come as slowing global growth and trade tensions will probably remain the key challenges in the financial markets.
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GO Markets
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市場對頂尖製程晶圓及先進封裝(Advanced Packaging)的瘋狂胃納,其增長速度早已遠遠超越了全球供應鏈所能溫和承受的極限。這種極端的供需失衡,正強行逼迫各大 AI 龍頭大廠積極評估「第二供貨源(Second-source)」—— 呢點要稍為校準:這並不代表大廠們正在拋棄台積電,而是他們在實戰中迫切需要多一條通往大規模量產的備用防線。
支撐英特爾未來繼續狂飆的牛市邏輯非常直觀:**全球 AI 算力需求依舊極其瘋狂**,台積電的產能死鎖在短期內根本無法解開,這倒逼跨國科技巨頭必須不計代價尋求具備實質技術公信力的第二代工防線。如果英特爾能成功將目前的秘密測試與意向訂單逐步轉化為實質性的商業產出,全球長線資金將繼續為其晶圓代工戰略瘋狂計價。
最後,不容忽視的是更宏觀的 **AI 資本開支大週期**。一旦 Google、微軟、亞馬遜和 Meta 等超大規模雲端商(Hyperscalers)未來在龐大的基礎設施投入上放緩步伐、或是 AI 商業化變現的投資回報率(ROI)不如預期,成個半導體板塊都將迎來泥沙俱下的結構性大回撤,無論英特爾 Foundry 的製程進展得幾咁完美也無法獨善其身。
綜上所述,主導接下來外匯與股票交叉盤生死的黃金變數包括:輝達會否發出實質生產訂單、18A 工藝的最新良率進展、英特爾代工業務的虧損限度、台積電先進封裝擴產速度,以及北美雲端巨頭們的 AI 資本開支是否依舊強悍。