Weekly Currency Roundup

February 15-February 19, 2009
Local FX Market
This week, the market was active and US dollar was stable against the Bangladesh Taka. The market was mostly liquid this week.
Money Market
Overnight money market was table this week with ample liquidity. The call money rate was steady and settled near 8.00-8.75 percent range.
Commodities
Crude oil traded below $35 a barrel in New York after an industry-funded report showed that US stockpiles climbed amid falling fuel demand. The American Petroleum Institute said yesterday that inventories rose 1.6 million barrels last week to 345.8 million barrels. An Energy Department report out today also is expected to show stockpiles gained US fuel usage fell 3.1 percent to an average 19.5 million barrels in January, the lowest for the month in seven years, API said.
International Markets
This week the dollar gained ground against the euro, sterling and the yen, hitting a six-week high against the yen and a three-month peak versus the euro. The yen is coming under pressure due to worried about the Japanese economy -- which suffered its deepest contraction in more than three decades in the latest quarter -- and political uncertainty as voter support for Prime Minister Taro Aso sinks. The Bank of Japan left its key policy rate unchanged at 0.10 percent, as expected, but extended the deadline for its buying of commercial paper to help corporate funding as it battles the credit crunch, with the economy in its deepest slump in more than the three decades. With little room to cut overnight rates after bringing them down to near zero late last year, the BOJ is focusing on ways to improve funding conditions for financial institutions and companies in an economy hit hard by the global slump. Late on Thursday, the euro recovered from a three-month low of $1.2513 touched the previous day. But worries about euro zone banks with exposure to struggling Eastern European countries kept investors wary of the euro, capping its gains, traders said.

-- Standard Chartered Bank