05 March 2004 08:17
Forex bond prices soar after U.S. statistics
MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - Quotes for Russian forex bonds soared at the end of trading on Friday, following U.S.
Treasuries, which in turn reacted with growth to unemployment statistics in the U.S.
The last time there was such a significant change in price on the Russian market in one day was on January 29, which
was also due to the price dynamic for U.S. Treasuries.
Quotes for the most liquid Russian Eurobonds, maturing in 2030, gained 1.5 percentage points from 98.3% to 99.8% of
face value, which is the highest level since January 23.
According to the U.S. labor figures, growth in job creation was lower than expected by analysts - 21,000 new jobs
were created last month, while analysts forecast an increase of 130,000 jobs. In addition, the adjusted figures for
January were lower than announced earlier - 97,000 jobs instead of 112,000.
As a result, dealers' worries about a possible increase in the base rate came to nothing, which caused a major
reaction on the market. These worries had increased after a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to the
Economic Club in New York on Tuesday.
Another reason for increased purchases of government securities in the second half of the day was an announcement by
Venezuelan Minister for Energy and Mines Rafael Ramirez that OPEC does not plan to change its decision to reduce oil
production quotas due to price growth.
Trading was sluggish in the first half of the day. At the start of trading quotes were at the same low level as at
the close of trading on the previous day. The confirmation of Mikhail Fradkov as prime minister did not cause any
reaction on the market - quotes did not even flicker at this news, as operators had no doubt about the outcome of the
vote.
At 4:00 p.m. Moscow time, before the U.S. statistics were published, quotes for the majority of dollar-denominated
Russian Eurobonds gained slightly - by about 0.2%.
The price dynamic in the OVVZ sector on Friday was also positive: the fifth and seventh tranche gained 0.23% and the
sixth and seventh tranche gained 0.1%.
At 5:30 p.m., indicative quotes were at 91.06%/91.39% for MinFin- 5, 97.81%/98.16% for MinFin-6, 81.08%/81.45% for
MinFin-7 and 94.23%/94.6% for MinFin-8. [RU EUROPE EEU EMRG ASIA FRX EUB GVD INSI] rd <>
[Interfax] |
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