07 May 2004 05:52
Forex bond prices slump Friday
MOSCOW. May 7 (Interfax) - Quotes for Russian forex bonds slumped Friday after the release of U.S. unemployment
statistics for April, which considerably increased fears among investors that interest rates would soon be raised.
The increase in jobs in the United States ahs for a second straight month exceeded forecasts, rising by 288,000 in
April instead of the 170,000 predicted.
Yield for 10-year U.S. T-bills grew to 4.75%, which was expected to coincide with the interest rate hike, said
Alexander Semeinikov of Credittrust bank said.
Quotes for Russian Eurobonds maturing in 2030 lost over 2 percentage points and fell to a minimum since August 2003
of 86.9375%- 87.125% from 89.5%.
Quotes could plunge further to 84%, said Semeinkov, adding that it was difficult to make predictions now. "I
think people are partially trying to close short positions, which will support the market for a while. In principle,
people are not ready for any further buying just now," he said. Everything will depend on U.S. T-bill dynamics - if
they continue to fall, emerging market bonds, including Russia's, will move in the same direction, he said.
Prices opened down from Thursday's close. Trading was light and the market fairly volatile before the release of
U.S. unemployment statistics. Quotes for 2030 bonds fluctuated around 89% within a range of almost one percentage
point.
Quotes went up on rumors about the statistics five or ten minutes before they were released, but as soon as the
figures were known, demand disappeared and it became impossible to sell. The first bid price that appeared after a few
minutes was down by one percentage point. By close, 2030 Eurobonds were down to 86.5%.
Before the release, quotes were down over 1.5% for dollar- denominated Russian Eurobonds maturing in 2018 and 2028,
0.6% for 2030 and 2010 bonds, and 0.2% on average for 2005 and 2007 bonds.
Quotes for MinFin bonds were either not forwarded at all or forwarded only for some tranches with wide spreads
between bid/ask prices. Overall, quotes were down 0.2% to 1%.
At 5:30 p.m., indicative quotes were at 85.72%/88.39% for MinFin-5, 94.94%/96.17% for MinFin-6, 75.89%/76.83% for
MinFin-7 and 92.33%/93% for MinFin-8. [RU EUROPE EEU EMRG ASIA FRX EUB GVD INSI] me
[Interfax] |
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