FUTURES SUS contract crashes

Press, 22 April 1986, Page 24

FUTURES SUS contract crashes

United States dollar futures crashed yesterday as the New Zealand dollar firmed on the foreign-exchange market. The May contract closed 550 points down on the Friday close. This represents a loss of $2750 per contract to those long (with buying positions). The June contract closed 585 points down on the final Friday price: a drop of almost $3OOO for those long. Mr Dave Halligan, of Jordan Sandman Futures, Auckland, said the surge in the New Zealand dollar to above 56c began with a $lOO billion Eurodollar drawdown in New York on Friday. This caused a sharp drop in American dollars.

In short-term interest futures (PCPs), indices fell, reflecting higher anticipated physical rates. May closed 35 points down and June 10 points down. Mr Halligan, of Jordan Sandman, said that PCPs set new highs, but closed on their lows.

Government stock contracts were firmer, however. This reflects continued confidence that interest rates are on the way down. (The futures interest indices are inverse to the physical rates). The May Government stock contract closed three points firmer than the Friday close, in very heavy trading. June closed five points up.

Wool futures eased in reaction to the higher New Zealand dollar. The May, 1986,

contract was down 6c, and most months were down 3c to 5c at the close on their previous close. Details of yesterday’s trad■mg: SUS CONTRACTS Mth Open H/L Last Vol May 1.8245 .8245/750 .7750 45 Jun 1.8100 .8100/950 .7950 5 Jul 1.8700 .8750/700 .8750 3 Aug 1.9000 .9000/000 .9000 2 Sep 1.9400 .9400/400 .9400 2 Contracts traded: 57 Open positions at Apr 18: May 276, June 3, Sep 1, total 280 31). (up COMMERCIAL BILLS Mth Open H/L Last Vol May 7970 8033/7970 995 126 Jun 8080 080/070 070 25 Jul 8100 100/100 100 10 Contracts traded: 161 Open positions at Apr 18: May 618, Jun 286, Jul 1, Sep 114, Dec 54, Mar 17, total 1090 (up 9). GOVERNMENT STOCK Mth Open H/L Last ' Vol May 8280 300/270 270 202 Jun 8295 311/285 285 97 Contracts traded: 299 Open positions at Apr 18: May 342, Jun 197, Jul 1, Sep 1, total 541 (up 98). WOOL FUTURES Mth Open H/L Last Vol May 496 496/492 493 20 Aug 516 516/513 513 25 Oct 519 520/517 517 19 Dec 520 520/519 519 15 Jan 523 523/519 519 27 Mar 525 525/524 524 19 May 530 530/528 528 35 Aug 542 542/540 540 14 Oct 543 543/541 541 14 Contracts traded: 188 Open positions at Apr 18: May 190, Aug 182, Oct 188, Dec 201, Jan 221, Mar 280, May 251, Aug 138, Oct 39, total 1690 (up 15).