Futures options set

Press, 1 December 1988, Page 31

Futures options set

Options trading on futures contracts begins on the New Zealand Futures Exchange tomorrow. Options on New Zealand dollar and five year Government stock futures will begin tomorrow, and the exchange plans to begin trading options on Barclays share index and 90-day bank bill futures early next year. Yesterday was “a bit of a rest day” after highvolume trading of Government stock futures earlier in the week, a dealer said. Only 1162 lots of December GSC futures were traded yesterday, compared to more than

3000 lots on both Monday and Tuesday, he said. “The last couple of days were a bit tough for some people, so they decided to give it a rest,” he said. GSC futures were sold off four or five points in light volume just on the close, so the contract could begin a rally today, he said. The Barclays futures contract was relatively busy yesterday, with 128 lots being traded, he said. After closing on Tuesday at a 38 point discount to the physical market, the contract came up to par, but then dropped away with news of weakness in the Australian sharemarket to close at 1836, a 13 point discount. BARCLAYS SHARE INDEX Mth Open H/L Last Vol Dec 1850 875/843 1846 128 Contracts traded: 128. Open positions at November 29: Dec 213, Mar 3, total' 216 (up

GOVERNMENT STOCK Mth Open H/L Last Vol Dec 8625 630/623 8623 1162 Mar 8640 640/635 8635 15 Contracts traded: 1177. Open positions at November 29: Dec 10540, Mar 68, total 10608 (up 950). NZ DOLLAR Mth Open H/L Last Vol Dec 6532 547/532 6545 22 Contracts traded: 22. Open positions at November 29: Dec 29, total 29 (down 1). SYDNEY ALL-ORDS (half-points omitted) Prev. Mth close H/L Last Vol Dec 1447 463/441 1448 1078 Mar 1451 459/445 1446 8 Contracts traded: 1086. Open positions at November 29: 5554 (down 180). US DOLLAR Mth Open H/L Last Vol Contracts traded: Nil. Open positions at November 29: Dec 218, Mar 3, total 221 (down 8). 90-DAY BANK BILLS Mth Open H/L Last Vol Dec 8542 544/540 8542 69 Feb 8555 555/555 8565 4 Contracts traded: 73. Open positions at November 29: Dec 2464, Jan 22, Feb 30, Mar 260, Jun 76, Sep 37, Dec 20, Mar 20, total 2929 (up 16).