FUTURES Interest contracts move markedly

Press, 24 February 1987, Page 25

FUTURES Interest contracts move markedly

Interest-rate futures eased markedly yesterday, reflecting . a firming in physicalmarket rates, to which they move inversely.

March Government stock futures were nine points down at the close compared with the Friday close, and mid-range for the day. April contracts closed 26 points down on Friday and June contracts six points lower. Ninety-day bank-accepted bills closed 40 points down on the Friday close. Call and short-term interest rates were 1 to 1.85 percentage points higher yesterday on the physical market. Share-index futures fell more than the Barclays index yesterday. At the close, the March futures index was 24 points under the Friday close. The physical index fell 8.25 points to 3146.63, and the March futures were at a 3.8% discount to this at 3040. Futures brokers reported a directionless market, quiet in all contracts. Monday, with no financial signals, is often a quiet day for futures traders, but yesterday was more tranquil than usual. No U.S. dollar or commer-cial-bill contracts were traded. In very light trading, wool futures seemed steady to firm. Seven wheat contracts traded but the recent movement in the contract seems to be closing-out activity. The open position is falling sharply. In Sydney, March shareprice index futures finished 26.5 points lower at 1562.0, a pessimistic 44-point discount to the physical market. Details of yesterday’s trading in New Zealand:

JUS CONTRACTS Contracts traded: nil. Open positions at Feb 20: Mar 196, Apr 2, May 6, Jun 1, total 205 (down 34). COMMERCIAL BILLS Contracts traded: nil. Open positions at Feb 20: Mar 313, Jun 123, Sep 43, Dec 40, Mar 39, Jun 10, total 568 (down 15). GOVERNMENT STOCK Mth Open H/L Last Vol Mar 8185 195/178 188 676 Apr 8205 207/205 207 52 Jun 8242 242/230 238 50 Contracts traded: 778. Open positions at Feb 20: Mar 2478, Apr 2, Jun 890, total 3370 (up 285). WOOL Mth Open H/L Last Vol May 614 614/614 614 6 Aug 633 633/633 633 3 Oct 645 645/645 645 1 Jan 648 650/648 650 6 Contracts traded: 16. Open positions at Feb 20: Mar 121, May 310, Aug 202, Oct 179, Dec 129, Jan 214, Mar 196, May 105, Aug 10, total 1466 (down 28). WHEAT Mth Open H/L Last Vol Mar 218 218/217 217 3 May 220 220/220 220 4 Contracts traded: 7. Open positions at Feb 19: Mar 10, May 12, total 22 (down 27). M-DAY BANK BILLS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Mar 7520 520/495 510 37 Sep 7990 990/990 990 30 Contracts traded: 67. Open positions at Feb 19: Mar 600, Apr 3, May 10, Jun 129, Sep 16, Dec 46, Mar 41, Jun 40, Sep 40, Dec 40, total 965 (up 21). SYDNEY ALL-ORDS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Mar 1588.5 09/62 1562 2261 Jun 1534 96/69 1569 100 Contracts traded: 2361. Open positions at Feb 20: 11,890. BARCLAY’S SHARE INDEX Mth Open H/L Last Vol Mar 3070 095/040 040 272 Contracts traded: 272. Open positions at Feb 20: Mar 1170, Jun 52, total 1222 (up 78).