25 August, 2011, Sweetcrude, International News
· USD: The dollar was firm against major currencies on Thursday and could eke out further gains after a short-covering rally the day before, as investors fret that the U.S. Federal Reserve may not signal new stimulus for the economy this week.
· CHF: The Swiss franc was broadly stable against the euro and the dollar on Thursday, trading in a tight band as investors awaited a key speech from U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday for any sign of a third round of quantitative easing.
· CNY: The yuan slipped versus the dollar on Thursday as the central bank fixed a slightly weaker mid-point, to the disappointment of the market that had expected another record high.
Nigeria News
· Bonds – Some demand returned to the market yesterday pushing yields down across most of the curve with the exception of the 4.00% Apr 2015 and 10.00% Jul 2030 which closed relatively flat after some intraday volatility.
· Bills – Yields went up another 10bps on the long dated maturities, the shorter dated maturities [91days] dipped about 15-20bps. Bill auction yesterday with the market largely split on rate direction or the possible outcome of the auction. It is however clear that today’s auction is crucial in determining market direction short term.
· Money Market – O/N is a bit volatile this week coming down to 8.00% yesterday after only going up to 10.00% the day on Tuesday. An injection of about N100bio came in to boost liquidity temporarily.
· Interbank/WDAS – $400m was offered and sold at yesterday’s WDAS auction with demand at $558.38m while CBN intervened at $/NGN153.6210.
FX
Hi Low Close Prev.Close
USD/NGN 154.95/05 154.04/14 154.20/30 155.93/03
