AFX: Hong Kong dollar eases slightly as stocks slide
HONG KONG, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The following is a snapshot of the Hong Kong foreign exchange and money market on Monday.
Latest Previous Day
At 0558 GMT At 0520 GMT
Overnight 0.005/0.05 0.005/0.05
One-month 0.02/0.07 0.03/0.08
Three-month 0.09/0.17 0.08/0.18
Six-month 0.35/0.43 0.35/0.44
One-year 0.64/0.74 0.67/0.77
For more live quotes of forwards and interbank rates, click on.
THE HONG KONG DOLLAR EDGED LOWER BUT HELD WITHIN A NARROW range against the U.S. dollar on Monday, with sentiment hurt by a plunge in the stock markets.
THE LOCAL CURRENCY FELL AS LOW AS 7.7504, BUT IT WAS still near the upper end of its tight band to the U.S. dollar.
ASIAN STOCKS TRACKED LOSSES ON WALL STREET, WHERE THE DOW industrials suffered its worst slide since July on Friday on renewed worries about economic recovery.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 1.72 percent at
the midday break on Monday, while the China Enterprise Index of top locally listed Chinese companies fell 1.46 percent.
ONE DEALER AT A LOCAL BANK EXPECTED THE USD/HKD SPOT RATE to keep in a tight range of 7.7500-7.7510 amid a correction in the stock market, and upcoming IPO activity could draw investment fund inflows into the city.
CHINA'S MINSHENG BANKING CORP HAS RECEIVED approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange to go ahead with its more than $4 billion IPO in Hong Kong.
THE HONG KONG DOLLAR IS PEGGED AT 7.80 TO THE U.S. DOLLAR but can trade between 7.75 and 7.85. The HKMA is usually obliged to intervene when the local currency hits 7.75 or 7.85.
LOCAL INTERBANK RATES REMAINED AT LOW LEVELS AS THE BANKING system was flush with liquidity, following frequent interventions by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in the forex market over recent months to curb the local currency's appreciation amid capital inflows.
Three-month Hibor was fixed at 0.16964 percent,
a five-year low, and was down from Friday's 0.17929 percent.
The aggregate balance -- the sum of balances on clearing
accounts maintained by banks with the HKMA -- stood at HK$248.39 billion on Monday.
THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT SOLD HK$2 BILLION WORTH OF five-year bonds at an annualised yield of 1.99 percent on Monday.
THE GOVERNMENT WILL RELEASE RETAIL SALES DATA FOR SEPTEMBER at 0830 GMT.
MARKET/ECONOMIC NEWS
> Stock market reports and updates: > Yuan reports and updates: > U.S. dollar reports and updates: > Emerging Asia forex reports and updates: (Reporting by Christina Lo, Editing by Jacqueline Wong) ((christina.lo.reuters.com@reuters.net; +852 2843 6960; Reuters Messaging:christina.lo.reuters.com@reuters.net))
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