FUTURES

Press, 29 July 1989, Page 25

FUTURES

The Government stock futures market was bullish yesterday, after dealers had had a chance to digest Thursday evening’s Budget news. A dealer with Egden Wignail and Company Futures, Mr Mark Thiele, said last evening that the main factor in yesterday’s trading seemed to be the announcement of what was effectively a nil borrowing programme, suggesting that interest rates would fall. September GSC futures closed yesterday at 8739, 10 points up from the previous close and one point down from yesterday morning’s open. The contract hit a high of 8745, and 901 lots were traded. The futures markets were disrupted yesterday morning when the computerised trading system broke down for almost three hours. Mr Thiele said that because of the breakdown, the potentially high volumes that could have been expected from the markets following the Budget were reduced. The Budget held little for Barclays share-price index futures traders, ,Mr Thiele said. There was some disappointment about the lack of news regarding private superannuation schemes, but this was countered by the fact that interest rates fell sharply. The net effect of the Budget on the sharemarket yesterday was nil, with both futures and the physical market ending near Thursday’s levels. Mr Thiele said consolidation above the 2000 level in futures was expected before the contract moved higher. September BSI futures closed at 2030, the same level as Thursday,