FUTURES Premium extended

Press, 14 July 1987, Page 27

FUTURES Premium extended

The premium on the Barclays share price index futures contract was extended to 78 points yesterday in strong trading. Mr Simon Gerrie, a trader for Jordan Sandman Futures, said that the demand for the leading stocks had again caused the contract to rally. The contract closed at a 57 point premium on Friday, and it sold as high as 3290 yesterday, before ending at 3278. The demand was not the same for second-line issues, Mr Gerrie said, and he warned to watch out for a sharp sell-off. The extended premium meant that the contract was susceptible to a negative floor day — a quick drop in price among the leading issues on the Stock Exchange. The trend of the Bar-

clays contract was still up and it was important to follow the trend, but it looked close to “topping,” he said. The two interest rate contracts — Government stock (GSK) and bankaccepted bills (BAB) — were both quiet as traders waited for today’s release of the consumer price index figures for the June quarter. The GSK contract only had a six point trading range, finishing 1 point above its low at 8449 in extremely quiet trading. The BAB contract only sold in July in a 4 point range on a slim volume, he said. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the September share price index went past 2000 before closing at 1976.5 — a 46.5 point premium to the physical market. The contract

peaked at an early high of 2008.0 after closing at 1982.0 on Friday. Details of yesterday’s trading were: SUS CONTRACTS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Jly 1.6584 6584/6584 6584 110 Sep 1.6860 6860/6840 6840 103 Contracts traded: 213 Open positions at July 10: Jly 203, Aug 2, Sep 94, total 299 (down 297). COMMERCIAL BILLS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Contracts traded: Nil Open positions at July 10: Sep 43, Dec 40, Mar 39, Jun 10, total 132 GOVERNMENT STOCK Mth Open H/L Last Vol Sep 8450 452/448 449 206 Contracts traded: 206 Open positions at July 10: Sep 6351, Dec 101, total 6452 (up 346). WOOL Mth Open H/L Last Vol Oct 658 658/658 658 3 Jan 678 678/675 675 16 Mar 700 700/700 700 4 May 705 705/705 705 3 Contracts traded: 26 Open positions at July 10: Aug 38, Oct 59, Dec 111, Jan 317, Mar 329, May 205, Aug 18, Oct 1, Dec 2, total 1080 (up 3). 90-DAY BANK BILLS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Jly 8205 205/201 202 19 Contracts traded: 19 Open positions at July 10: Jly 605, Aug 145, Sep 541, Dec 166, Mar 198, Jun 120, Sep 120, Dec 125, Mar 10, total 2030 (down 30). SYDNEY ALL-ORDS (half-points omitted) Prev. Mth close H/L Last Vol Sep 1982 2008/69 1976 2034 Dec 2025/09 2015 14 Contracts traded: 2048 Open positions at July 10: 8649. BARCLAY’S SHARE INDEX Mth Open H/L Last Vol Sep 3093 290/093 278 724 Contracts traded: 724 f Open positions at July 10: Sep 1243, Dec 80, total 1323 (up 185).