Business

Mon Jun 23 23:26:47 PDT 2008

__________AUSTRALIAN CREDIT/FOREX (0200 GMT) SNAPSHOT__________ FOREIGN EXCHANGE (against previous Sydney close) <AUD=> 0.9502/05 (0.9541/45) <AUDNZD=R>1.2554/74 (1.2530/45) <AUDJPY=R> 102.57/67 (102.51/61) <JPY=> 107.98/99 (107.51/54) <AUDEUR=R> 0.6126/29(0.6119/24) <EUR=> 1.5508/10 (1.5582/85) DEBT FUTURES CASH YIELDS 90-DAY BILL<YBAc1> (SEP) 91.970( 0.020) <AU3MBB=RR 7.83(7.84) 3-YR BOND <YTTc1> (SEP) 93.120( 0.010) <AU3YT=RR> 6.85(6.86) 10-YR BOND <YTCc1> (SEP) 93.450( 0.005) <AU10YT=RR> 6.55(6.56) 3/10 SPREAD -0.330 (-0.340) AUST/US 10-YR SPREAD 238 ( 240) S&P/ASX 200 5266.0 (5283.7) US10-YR <US10YT=RR> 4.17 (4.15) __________________________ June 24_____________________________

* The Australian dollar eased towards 95 U.S. cents ahead of a crucial Federal Reserve meeting which might provide clues about when the U.S. central bank would raise interest rates to combat inflationary pressures.

* Yield differentials between two-year U.S. and Australian government bonds narrowed to 441 basis points on Tuesday from 451 points a day earlier, giving a boost to the U.S. dollar.

* The Fed starts a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. It is widely expected to leave its funds rate at 2 percent, after slashing it by 3.25 percentage points since September, but attention is on the accompanying statement for signs the Fed is moving to a more hawkish bias.

* The Aussie found some support on news China’s largest steelmaker has agreed to a sharp hike in iron ore contract prices. Baosteel agreed to pay up to 96.5 percent more for its iron ore under a term contract with Australian miner Rio Tinto. Iron ore is one of Australia’s biggest exports. [nSYD121802]

* Shortly after midday, the Aussie <AUD=> was at $0.9502/05 against the U.S. dollar, down from $0.9541/45 late here on Monday. It rose to a two-week high of $0.9567 last week after investors trimmed the chances of a U.S. rate hike and sold the greenback.

* The Aussie traded at 102.57 yen <AUDJPY=R>, not far from a seven-month high of 102.79 yen struck last week on steady demand for carry trades.

* Australian bond futures were firmer, although they gave up some of their earlier gains ahead of the Fed meeting.

* Three-year bond futures <YTTc1> was up 0.01 point to 93.12, while the 10-year bond contract <YTCc1> added 0.005 points to 93.45.

(Reporting by Anirban Nag; Editing by James Thornhill)

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