FUTURES Share index trades

Press, 27 January 1988, Page 35

FUTURES Share index trades

The Barclays share price index futures contract managed to trade yesterday, although the volume was light and the trend easier.

The managing director of Egden Wignall and Company futures, Dr Brent Layton, said that there was not much in the Barclays contract to get equity holders excited.

There was no clear direction and no reason to hedge, so no-one was, which meant that the incentive to speculate was not there.

It would not make any difference if the Australian market had fallen on its face, if it was open, he said. The contract ended at a 65 point discount to the physical compared with 36 points on Friday — the contract did not trade on Monday. It also closed on its low for the day of 1865 as the physical index hit a two-year low. The bank-accepted bills (BAB) contract firmed yesterday on the expectation of lower interest rates.

The market appeared to have been oversold because of earlier expectations that interest rates were going to firm as the demand of tax payments in February and again in March would cause liquidity to tighten. The March BAB contract was particularly strong, closing on its high for a 14 point gain compared with Friday. This contract also did not trade on Monday. The Government stock (GSK) recovered from a low of 8549 to close steady at 8556.

Wool dropped as the kiwi dollar breached US67c and the indications were the exporters were struggling at current prices, Dr Layton said.

The March wool contract came under pressure, losing 16 points, although it ended off its low.

The United States dollar contract itself was untraded, although the number of opening positions dropped sharply.

The Sydney Futures Exchange was closed for Australia Day. Details of yesterday’s trading were:— SUS CONTRACTS Mth Open H/L • Last Vol Contracts traded: nil Open positions at January 25: Feb 10, Mar 42, total 52 (down 110). COMMERCIAL BILLS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Contracts traded: nil Open positions at January 25: Mar 1, Jun 10. total 11 (same). GOVERNMENT STOCK Mth Open H/L Last Vol Mar 8558 558/549 8556 541 Contracts traded: 541 Open positions at January 25: Mar 1851, Jun 160, Sep 119, total 2130 (up 41). WOOL Mth Open H/L Last Vol Mar 616 620/612 614 26 May 635 640/633 640 12 Aug 670 670/670 670 1 Contracts traded: 39 Open positions at January 25: Jun 16, Mar 299, May 313, Aug 51, Oct 25, Dec 28, total 732 (up 10). 90-DAY BANK BILLS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Feb 8280 8288/8275 8288 32 Mar 8300 8311/8296 8311 54 Contracts traded: 86 Open positions at January 25: Feb 407, Mar 677, Apr 42, Jun 220, Sep 195. Dec 181, Mar 31, Jun 17, total 1753 (down 22). BARCLAY’S SHARE INDEX Mth Open H/L Last Vol Mar 1875 889/865 1865 10 Contracts traded: 10 Open positions at January 25: Mar 344, Jun 5, Sep 52, total 401