FUTURES Watching the kiwi

Press, 24 December 1986, Page 10

FUTURES Watching the kiwi

Which way the kiwi dollar? This was one of the few points of interest in the extremely quiet futures market yesterday. Mr Geoff McDonnell, futures manager of Mair Astley, Ltd, said the little activity there was arose mainly from book squaring. At the close, the January United States dollar contract was down 45 points on its Monday close. In thin trading, the two main interest-rate contracts were also lower. The March Government stock contract was down six points on the Monday close, and bank-ac-cented bills were •20 to 25 points down. This seems to suggest a favourable climate for a firmer New Zealand dollar, although at least one wellknown chartist is forecasting the kiwi is about to fall sharply.

Details: SUS CONTRACTS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Jan 1.9150 9470/120 9285 61 Feb 1.9530 9530/530 9530 1 Contracts traded: 62. Open positions at Dec 22: Jan 634, Feb 10, Mar 15, total 659 (up 89). COMMERCIAL BILLS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Contracts traded: Nil. Open positions at Dec 22: Unchanged. GOVERNMENT STOCK Mth Open H/L Last Vol Mar 8310 318/302 313 154 Contracts traded: 154. Open positions at Dec 22: Jan 8, Feb nil, Mar 2414, total 2422 (down 28). WOOL FUTURES Mth Open H/L Last Vol Mar 589 589/589 589 1 May 602 602/602 602 1 Contracts traded: 2. Open positions at Dec 22: Dec 23, Jan 114, Mar 403, May 495, Aug 218, Oct 184, Dec 137, Jan 209, Mar 201, May 93, total 2077 (down 1).

WHEAT FUTURES Mth Open H/L Last Vol Contracts traded: Nil. Open positions at Dec 22: Same. DO-DAY BANK BILLS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Jan 7765 765/745 755 90 Mar 7960 960/960 7960 11 Contracts traded: 101. Open positions at Dec 22: Jan 791, Feb 33, Mar 118, Jun 25, Sep 16, Dec 21, Mar 21, Jun 20, Sep 20, Dec 20, total 1085 (down 4).