MONEY MARKETS-Dollar funding at new low, India swaps down

Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:57am EDT
 
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SINGAPORE, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Dollar funding costs in shorter tenors drop further to new low in Asia on Friday, while interest rate swaps in Korea and India extend their downtrend against a backdrop of a revival in risk-taking by investors.

* In Singapore, 3-month dollars SIUSDD=ABSG were unchanged from Thursday but at a record low of 0.2843 percent.

* Eurodollar futures EDZ9 were a couple of points higher, with December eurodollar futures pricing 3-month LIBOR at 0.325 percent.

* The spread between LIBOR LIBOR= and overnight-indexed swaps (OIS), the latter a measure of market expectation of policy rates, has also barely changed in months, quoted at 14 bps on Friday.

* Swap rates meanwhile continue to decline in Korea and India, two countries where the equity market sell-off and recent policy statements have spurred market participants to re-assess of future policy tightening.

* Korean one-year swap KRWIRS is down to 3.58 percent, down 5bps this week. That has taken the one-year swaps basis, the difference between cross-currency swaps and interest rate swaps, down to 283 bps from 298 this week.

* Indian 3-month overnight-indexed swaps INROIS fall to 3.46 percent, extending this week's decline to 16 bps.

* In the main dollar funding centres in Singapore and Hong Kong, interbank rates have been rising this week, as the dollar rallied against most currencies, stock markets fell and investors took profit on their risky asset portfolios.

* Singapore interbank 3-month rates SGDDFIX=ABSG are at 0.55 percent, and have climbed 4 bps this week.

* Three-month rates in Hong Kong dollars HIBOR=R are up at 0.179 percent, up from 0.172 earlier this week. (Reporting by Vidya Ranganathan; Editing by Jan Dahinten)

 

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