FUTURES Barclays in slide

Press, 24 September 1987, Page 30

FUTURES Barclays in slide

The Barclays contract continued to be sold down yesterday, as the bearish trend on the New Zealand sharemarket deepened. The September month dropped to a 2 point discount against the physical, and in December the premium eased 2 points to 190. One futures dealer said that the contract had closed on its lows, an indication that futures would dip again today.

But after three large drops in a row, a technical rebound of about 50 points could be expected, the dealer said. In the longer term, the dealer had a bearish opinion about the direction of the Barclays futures contract, after a short-term recovery. Both the Government stock (GSK) and bankaccepted bills (BAB) contracts range traded aimlessly yesterday.

The GSK exceeded the previous day’s highs and lows, starting off firmly, but later falling to close near its bottom for the day. The trend was the same for the BABs, the dealer said. Both the interest rates contracts were consolidating their positions. The United States dollar contract recovered- four opening positions after showing none in the previous sessions, but with no quotes or trades, and a lack of liquidity, the contract appears to be going in the direction of wheat futures — delisting. JUS CONTRACTS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Contracts traded: Nil. Open positions at September 22: Oct 1, Mar 3, total 4 (up 4). COMMERCIAL BILLS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Contracts traded: Nil. Open positions at September 22: Dec 10, Mar 39, Jun 10, total 89 (same). GOVERNMENT STOCK Mth Open H/L Last Vol Dec 84.10 418/405 406 313 Jun 84.75 475/475 475 10 Contracts traded: 323. Open positions at September 22: Dec 943, Mar 10, Jun 70, total 1023 (up 72). WOOL Mth Open H/L Last Vol Jan 656 660/656 660 6 Mar 673 673/672 672 3 May 697 700/697 700 7 Contracts traded: 16. Open positions at September 22: Oct 24, Dec 96, Jan 321, Mar 344, May 252, Aug 30, Oct 1, Dec 2, total 1070 (same). 90-DAY BANK BILLS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Oct 80.97 110/090 090 26 Nov 81.18 120/118 120 7 Dec 81.70 170/170 170 5 Mar 81.95 195/195 195 3 Jun 82.50 250/250 250 2 Contracts traded: 43. Open positions at September 22: Oct 537, Nov 190, Dec 340, Mar 222, Jun 162, Sep 132, Dec 137, Mar 26, Jun 12, total 1758 (up 12). SYDNEY ALL-ORDS (half-points omitted) Mth close H/L Last Vol Sep 2287 2301/52 2286 1728 Dec 2346 2368/15 2345 1159 Contracts traded: 2887. Open positions at September 22' 9925 BARCLAY’S SHARE INDEX Mth Open H/L Last Vol Sep 3905 905/845 846 222 Dec 4082 090/020 038 494 Contracts traded: 716. Open positions at September 22: Sep 950, Dec 488, total 1438 (up 137).