Thursday, 22 August 2013 | Only the US dollar buying rate moved up in today’s Forex market as all others declined. Traders bought US$24.6 at $101.33 up 2 cents and sold $22.1 million at $102.01 down 3 cents from Wednesday’s rate. C$663,000 was bought for $1.40 less at the end of trading than at the end of Wednesday as the buying rate slipped to $95.54 and selling amounted to CS$552,000 at $1.40 less at $967.25. The Pound was bought for $2.10 less at $156.40 for £902,000 while selling took place at $159.71 for £1.16 million at 38 cents less than on Wednesday. Overall, the equivalent of $26.88 million was purchased and US$24.66 million sold.
Buying took place as high as $102.70, a decrease of only 5 cents and selling as low as $83.92, down $15.68 for the US dollar. The lowest buying and highest selling rates remained unchanged at the end of trading. The Canadian dollar had to be bought as high as $101.20, which is $3.10 more than Wednesday but the lowest rate paid by dealers was 42 cents less at $78.85. The highest selling rate remained unchanged and 80 cents was taken off the lowest selling rate, which closed out the day at $95.
The Pound was purchased at 75 cents less at $159.80 at the highest level but the lowest buying rate stood 70 cents more than on Wednesday at $129.77. Selling was as high as $4.56 more at $167.35 and as low as $3.70 less at $151.60.
The IMF staff signed off on the country’s economic targets clearing the way for a draw-down of funds under the agreement with the fund. The amount to be paid is not large (US$30 million) and it is not due until September. However, the physiological impact on investors and the effect it could have on the forex market should not be ignored.
