Italian government bonds are not overvalued versus German peers, despite the substantial tightening in the BTP-bund spread during the past few months, says Dresdner Kleinwort strategist Marcel Bross. “In fact, our model renders BTPs on the cheap side versus bunds,” he says, adding that the major drivers of the BTP-bund spread argues for continued tightening. Therefore, Dresdner Kleinwort reiterates its recommendation to stay overweight BTPs at the expense of bunds, Bross says.
USD/THB ends steady at 33.97-33.99 vs 33.98 last close. Foreign players buy but overall trade fairly thin amid absence of fresh catalysts, plus players want to avoid holding positions over weekend. “There’s nothing new to drive the market. The dollar/baht should hover around this level for quite a while,” says local dealer. Central bank’s downward revision to 2009 GDP but bullish stance on 2010 economy was widely expected, thus had little impact on market. Resistance tipped at 34.10, support at 33.80.
Moderate selling of U.S. dollars by banks near the session’s end provided support for China’s yuan, which ended unchanged against the U.S. unit Friday despite a higher dollar-yuan central parity.
On the over-the-counter market, the dollar ended at CNY6.8310 around 0930 GMT, unchanged from Thursday’s close. It traded between CNY6.8310 and CNY6.8320. Read the rest of this entry »