Weekly Currency Roundup

June 22 June 26, 2008
Local FX Market
Local inter-bank FX market was liquid during the week as the demand for dollar rose. The BDT remained range bound against the US dollar.
Money Market
Overnight money market eased towards the end of this week. The range moved from 6.50 percent to 8.50 percent.
In the Treasury bill auction held on Sunday, bid for BDT 9,000.00 was accepted compared to BDT 9,000.00 last week. Weighted average yield was rose slightly for all categories auctioned on the day.
International Markets
This week the dollar was mainly steady against the euro, but as the week wore on the euro recovered backed by some good German lfo data. The US central bank on Wednesday left its benchmark fed funds rate at 2 percent, effectively ending one of its most aggressive rate cutting campaigns to limit the economic fallout from the housing and credit crisis. The Fed voiced greater concerns about inflation in the statement accompanying its two-day policy meeting but also said it expected price pressures to moderate this year. The euro was steady against the dollar, knocked off earlier highs after data showing French consumer confidence had fallen to its lowest headline level since 1987 while Italian business morale hit a 3-year low. But expectations for a July ECB hike remained intact after data from German states pointed to an increase in inflation in the euro zone's biggest economy. Euro/dollar has been trapped in a $1.5285-$1.5844 range for about two months, but ING's Turner said the near-term outlook for the pair remained mildly bullish. Against the Japanese currency the euro climbed to a record high of 169.45 yen according to Reuters data. The Japanese currency has been hurt by expectations the Bank of Japan will keep interest rates at a low 0.5 percent for a while due to weakness in the domestic economy.
Commodities.
-Standard Chartered Bank