Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/370348
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 AUGUST 2014 11 Business Today Money Market Report for the week ending August 22, 2014 Exchange Rates Issue Date: 26-Aug-14 Set: 2 Issue Time: 14:47:20 Value Date: 28/08/2014 Currency Cash Cash Non-Cash Non-Cash Revaluation Buying Selling Selling Buying British Pound (GBP) 0.8308 0.7721 0.7761 0.8159 0.7960 United States Dollar (USD) 1.3773 1.2800 1.2866 1.3526 1.3196 Swiss Franc (CHF) 1.2613 1.1721 1.1782 1.2386 1.2084 Australian Dollar (AUD) 1.4772 1.3728 1.3799 1.4507 1.4153 Canadian Dollar (CAD) 1.5100 1.4033 1.4105 1.4829 1.4467 Japanese Yen (JPY) 143.1100 132.9967 133.6823 140.5378 137.1100 Danish Krone (DKK) 7.7800 7.2300 7.2600 7.6400 7.4500 Swedish Kronor (SEK) 9.5600 8.8900 8.9300 9.3900 9.1600 Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) 10.6730 9.9188 9.9700 10.4812 10.2256 Norwegian Krone (NOK) 8.5100 7.9100 7.9500 8.3500 8.1500 New Zealand Dollar (NZD) 1.6518 1.5351 1.5430 1.6222 1.5826 Singapore Dollar (SGD) 1.7194 1.5979 1.6061 1.6885 1.6473 South African Rand (ZAR) 14.7103 13.6709 13.7414 14.4460 14.0937 Czech Koruna (CZK) 29.0600 27.0000 27.1440 28.5360 27.8400 Polish Zloty (PLN) 4.3700 4.0600 4.0779 4.2871 4.1825 Hungarian Forint (HUF) 344.5424 294.4294 305.3901 321.0479 313.2243 Moroccan Dirham (MAD) 12.2980 10.5092 ********* ********* 11.1800 Tunisian Dinar (TND) 2.3900 2.2200 2.2331 2.3477 2.2904 United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) 5.3315 4.5560 4.7256 4.9680 4.8468 Bahraini Dinar (BHD) 0.5473 0.4677 ********* ********* 0.4975 Gibraltar Pound (GIP) 0.8755 0.7481 ********* ********* 0.7959 Israeli New Sheqel (ILS) 5.1858 4.4315 ********* ********* 4.7144 Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD) 0.4131 0.3530 ********* ********* 0.3755 Saudi Riyal (SAR) 5.4438 4.6520 ********* ********* 4.9489 Turkish New Lira (TRY) ********* ********* 2.7892 2.9322 2.8607 Thailand BAHT (THB) ********* ********* 41.0669 43.1730 42.12 Chinese Renminbi (CNY Onshore) ********* ********* 7.9156 8.3216 8.1186 Chinese Renminbi (CNH Offshore) ********* ********* 7.9156 8.3216 8.1186 All Chinese Renminbi transactions, irrespective of amounts, are to be referred to Branches or Treasury. Rates shown here are indicative only and are subject to change without notice. The final exchange rate offered by the bank /applied to your transaction may vary from the rate indicated here. Our staff at the Branches or Treasury will be pleased to provide you with exchange rates for your specific transactions. The rates quoted above are against the euro. 19.58 19.63 1288.84 1289.36 GOLD D + 1 SEPA payments and payments sent to countries and in the currencies regulated by the Payments Services Directive (PSD) D + 2 All Other Currencies US Dollars per TROY ounce Value Date Currency Same Day EUR/GBP/USD/CAD SILVER PUBLIC Regular market closed – 26/08/2014 Symbol Code Volume Traded Value Traded Trades High Price Low Price Open Price Close Price Change Twap ● BOV 11673 24975.220 5 2.140 2.139 2.139 2.140 0.000 2.140 ▲ FIM 18165 12052.610 3 0.670 0.655 0.670 0.655 0.005 0.664 ● GO 4272 10466.400 3 2.450 2.450 2.450 2.450 0.000 2.450 ▲ HSB 5214 10357.290 3 2.000 1.985 1.985 2.000 0.015 1.986 ▼ MTP 1350 1512.000 1 1.120 1.120 1.120 1.120 -0.010 1.120 ▼ TML 20000 10400.000 1 0.520 0.520 0.520 0.520 -0.005 0.520 ● G14B 4659 4725.160 1 101.420 101.420 101.420 101.420 0.000 101.420 ▲ G15B 1700000 1803700.000 1 106.100 106.100 106.100 106.100 0.010 106.100 ▲ G16A 11647 12784.910 1 109.770 109.770 109.770 109.770 0.020 109.770 ▲ G17C 30000 33408.000 1 111.360 111.360 111.360 111.360 0.140 111.360 ▲ G22B 30000 34980.000 1 116.600 116.600 116.600 116.600 0.300 116.600 ● G23A 18635 23457.740 1 125.880 125.880 125.880 125.880 0.000 125.880 ▲ G24A 25000 27022.500 1 108.090 108.090 108.090 108.090 0.570 108.090 ▲ G28A 29000 34481.000 2 118.900 118.900 118.900 118.900 0.280 118.900 ▲ G28B 107000 123574.300 4 115.490 115.490 115.490 115.490 0.310 115.490 ▲ G29A 82000 100040.000 1 122.000 122.000 122.000 122.000 0.890 122.000 ▲ G30A 57000 70110.000 1 123.000 123.000 123.000 123.000 0.210 123.000 ▲ G31A 7000 8469.300 1 120.990 120.990 120.990 120.990 0.600 120.990 ▲ G32A 15000 16902.000 1 112.680 112.680 112.680 112.680 0.320 112.680 ▲ G32BA 1717000 1888339.600 3 109.980 109.880 109.880 109.880 0.220 109.980 ▲ G33A 146000 156979.200 3 107.520 107.520 107.520 107.520 0.320 107.520 ▲ G34AA 893200 935925.000 18 105.500 104.500 104.500 105.500 0.500 104.780 ● AX24A 18300 19306.500 2 105.500 105.500 105.500 105.500 0.000 105.500 ● CF19A 55000 56931.000 3 103.520 103.510 103.510 103.510 0.000 103.510 ▲ HB17A 12812 13293.730 1 103.760 103.760 103.760 103.760 0.010 103.760 ● IH19A 50000 51255.000 4 102.510 102.510 102.510 102.510 0.000 102.510 ▼ IH20A 56000 58245.000 3 104.010 104.000 104.010 104.000 -0.010 104.010 ● IH21A 9600 9965.760 2 103.810 103.810 103.810 103.810 0.000 103.810 ▼ IH23A 58000 60441.000 4 104.210 104.200 104.210 104.200 -0.800 104.210 ● MF24A 25000 26125.000 1 104.500 104.500 104.500 104.500 0.000 104.500 ▼ MI15A 10400 9750.000 5 95.000 93.000 95.000 93.000 -1.000 93.750 ● MI17A 5000 4700.000 2 94.000 94.000 94.000 94.000 0.000 94.000 ▲ SF20A 5700 5997.540 1 105.220 105.220 105.220 105.220 0.010 105.220 ECB monetary operations On Monday, August 18, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The auction was conducted on Tuesday, August 19, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €107.61 billion, €0.59 billion lower than the bid amount of the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 0.15%, in accordance with current ECB policy. On Wednesday, August 20, the ECB conducted a seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation attracted one bid of $0.08 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.59%. Domestic Treasury bill market In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day bills and for 182-day bills maturing on November 21, 2014 and February 20, 2015, respectively. Bids of €27.00 million were submitted for the 91-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €10.00 million, while bids of €40.00 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €2.00 million. Since €14.00 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €2.00 million, to stand at €356.07 million. The yield from the 91-day bill auction was 0.240%, i.e. 1.7 basis points lower than on bills with a similar tenor issued on August 14, 2014, representing a bid price of 99.9394 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was 0.290%, i.e. 3.2 basis points lower than on bills with a similar tenor issued on August 8, 2014, representing a bid price of 99.8536 per 100 nominal. During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange. On Tuesday the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day bills maturing on November 28, 2014. Market Commentary: Summit in Belarus to bring EU, Ukraine and Russia to negotiating table Much has been said about the contrast between the monetary policy outlooks of the US and UK and that of the Euro- zone – after the recent turn of events, it is becoming ever more pronounced. On one hand, we've had the minutes of the most recent FOMC and MPC meetings highlighting the risk of policy tightening coming sooner than expected in the US and UK, whereas in the eurozone, the downward pressures on growth and inflation have persisted and the pressure for the ECB to engage in QE continues to mount. The markets had previously interpreted the release of the minutes of July's FOMC last Wednesday as being a step closer to raising interest rates; Friday's speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen at Jackson Hole could well be interpreted as a backward step. Notwithstanding the faster-than-expected decline in the unemployment rate, Yellen does not appear to have changed her view that the "underutilisation of labour resources still remains significant". All in all, she continues to believe there is more slack in the labour market than the unemployment rate suggests, reiterating the usual arguments that some of the decline in the participation rate is cyclical, that the share of part-time workers remains unusually high and that rates of job turnover remain rather low. Following the weak Q2 GDP print and the decline in headline inflation for the month of July, the focus in the Eurozone remains on the hope for growth in Q3 and the stabilisation and a gradual increase in price inflation, before it begins to reach un-warranted lows. The ECB is not expected to act any time soon before it reviews any assessment of the impact of the TLTROs. Furthermore, the willingness of the Fed to wait until there is evidence of wage inflation implies that the resistance to higher USD rates remains very strong. Meanwhile, on Monday French President Francois Hollande called on PM Valls to form a new government on the back of a cabinet dispute over the recovery of the French economy. Valls presented his resignation to Hollande after Montebourg, the economic minister, called over the weekend for fiscal stimulus to bolster growth, stating that the government shouldn't be more robust in its attempt at reducing its debt. Meanwhile, Hollande asked Valls to propose a new ministerial team that is "coherent with his plans for the country," the President's office said. This collapse underlines the mounting political and economic pressures on Hollande as he seeks to revive an economy that has had no growth in the past two quarters at a time when his approval rating has been lower than that of any past French president. Meanwhile, all eyes will be on the summit between the EU, Ukraine and Russia in Minsk, Belarus between yesterday and today. The summit was originally intended to address trade relations between Ukraine and the Customs Union, however, a number of bilateral meetings between heads of state are expected to take place during this summit. Russian President Putin and Ukraine's Poroshenko are scheduled to attend amid hopes that progress will be made regarding developments in east Ukraine. Despite the contagion risk potential, worries about the direction of US yields and the on-going political threats, the risk-horizon appears to be somewhat clearer than it was since the start of the year. This article was issued by Calamatta Cuschieri, visit www.cc.com.mt for more information. The information, views and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri & Co. Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website. YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt