The following is a snapshot of the Hong Kong foreign exchange and money markets on Thursday.

Morning Previous Close

At 0342 GMT At 0859 GMT

HK$ SPOT 7.7535/40 7.7547/49

FORWARDS

Three-month -78/-72 -70/-65

Six-month -100/-90 -96/-87

One-year -130/-110 -120/-100

INTERBANK RATES (PERCENTAGE)

Overnight 0.15/0.40 0.20/0.40

One-month 0.95/1.05 0.95/1.05

Three-month 1.90/2.00 1.85/2.00

Six-month 2.20/2.30 2.20/2.30

One-year 2.40/2.50 2.40/2.50

* For more live quotes for forwards and interbank rates, click on.

* The Hong Kong dollar inched higher against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, while interbank rates were steady to a touch firmer ahead of the end of the month.

* Dealers said the local currency was trapped in a narrow range and sentiment was boosted by a rally in the stock market after China’s aggressive interest rate cut. One dealer expected the spot rate to stay in its recent range of 7.7530 to 7.7570 in the next few days.

* The Hong Kong currency is pegged at 7.8 to the U.S. dollar but can trade between 7.75 and 7.85.

* The one-month interbank offered rate was fixed at 1.05071 percent, rising from 0.99357 percent on Wednesday. The three-month Hibor rose 4.7 basis points to 1.99643 percent.

* The discount on Hong Kong dollar forwards widened slightly from the previous session, and one dealer reported that a major lender had offered to lend one- to three-month money in the market in early trade.

* The Hong Kong government is due to release trade data for October at 0830 GMT. A Reuters poll of seven economists gave a median estimate for a 0.5 percent increase in value of October exports from a year earlier. Imports were expected to rise 1.2 percent from a year earlier.

MARKET/ECONOMIC NEWS

>Stock market reports and updates:

>U.S. dollar reports and updates:

>Yuan reports and updates:

>Emerging Asia forex reports and updates:

Source: http://www.afxnews.com

Table of the latest Australian economic data. Period Latest Prev1 Prev2 Next Private New Capital Expenditure (s/adj, constant prices)

Total Q3 +0.6 +7.4 +0.6 Feb 26

Total (y/y) Q3 +15.9 +9.7 +3.6

Private Sector Credit

Credit (m/m, s/adj) Sept +0.7 +0.5 +0.6 Nov 28

Credit (y/y, s/adj) Sept +10.1 +10.5 +11.3

Company Gross Operating Profits

S/adj (q/q) Q2 +14.3 +3.1 +4.4 Dec 1

S/adj (y/y) Q2 +21.0 +6.3 +11.6

Business Inventories (volume measure, pct, s/adj)

Total (q/q pct) Q2 +0.3 +1.5 +0.8 Dec 1

Total (y/y pct) Q2 +4.1 +4.0 +3.9

Balance of Payments (s/adj, A$ billions)

Current Account Q2 -12.77 -19.84 -18.97 Dec 2

Goods, Services Q2 +0.56 -7.31 -6.39

International Investment Position (A$ billions)

Net foreign debt Q2 599.95 604.49 595.28 Dec 2

Net foreign equity Q2 92.19 82.68 77.22

Retail Trade (current prices)

Total (s/adj, m/m) Sept -1.1 +0.5 +1.6 Dec 2

Total (s/adj, y/y) Sept +1.6 +3.5 +3.8

Total (trend, m/m) Sept +0.2 +0.2 +0.2

Gross Domestic Product (s/adj, chain volume, percent)

GDP (q/q) Q2 +0.3 +0.7 +0.7 Dec 3

GDP (y/y) Q2 +2.7 +3.9 +4.3

Building Approvals (Total dwelling units)

(s/adj, m/m pct) Sept -7.2 -3.4 -2.2 Dec 4

(s/adj, y/y pct) Sept -21.6 -8.2 -3.7

(trend, m/m pct) Sept -2.0 -2.3 -2.2

Balance on Goods and Services (s/adj, A$ mln current prices)

G&S Balance Sept +1460 +1240 -550 Dec 4

Goods Balance Sept +1359 +1113 -919

Services Balance Sept +101 +29 +219

Exports (m/m pct) Sept +8.0 +6.0 -1.0

Imports (m/m pct) Sept +7.0 -2.0 +4.0

ANZ newspaper & Internet job advertisements

(s/adj, m/m pct) Oct -5.9 -1.4 -4.9 Dec 8

Housing finance for owner occupation (pct)

Total (s/adj, m/m) Sept -2.7 -2.2 -1.2 Dec 10

Westpac/Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment

Index level Nov 85.5 82.0 92.2 Dec 10

Pct change(m/m) Nov +4.3 -11.0 +7.0

Labour Force (s/adj)

Employment (000) Oct +34.3 -3.3 +13.5 Dec 11

full time (000) Oct -9.2 -23.3 +3.3

part time (000) Oct +43.5 +20.0 +10.2

Unemployment (pct)Oct 4.3 4.3 4.1

Participation rateOct 65.3 65.1 65.1

Dwelling Unit Commencements (s/adj, pct)

Total (q/q) Q2 -3.7 -1.0 +4.1 Dec 16

Total (y/y) Q2 +2.1 +2.4 +2.6

New Motor Vehicle Sales (pct)

Total (s/adj, m/m) Oct -0.5 -0.4 -3.5 Dec 22

Total (trend, m/m) Oct -1.4 -1.8 -1.9

International Trade Price Indices

Imports (q/q) Q3 +5.0 +1.4 +2.7 Jan 23

Exports (q/q) Q3 +13.8 +13.5 +3.5

Producer Price Index (Final stage of production)

Final goods (q/q) Q3 +2.0 +1.0 +1.9 Jan 27

(y/y) Q3 +5.6 +4.7 +4.8

Consumer Price Index (pct)

CPI (q/q) Q3 +1.2 +1.5 +1.3 Jan 28

CPI (y/y) Q3 +5.0 +4.5 +4.2

Mkt sector G/S(q/q) Q3 +1.0 +1.4 +0.8

Mkt sector G/S(y/y) Q3 +4.4 +4.2 +3.5

RBA trimmed (q/q) Q3 +1.2 +1.2 +1.2

RBA trimmed (y/y) Q3 +4.6 +4.3 +4.0

RBA weighted (q/q) Q3 +1.3 +1.0 +1.3

RBA weighted (y/y) Q3 +4.8 +4.5 +4.4

House Price Index, weighted average of main cities

National (q/q) Q3 -1.8 -0.2 +0.7 Feb 2

National (y/y) Q3 +2.8 +8.6 +13.5

Wage Price Index (s/adj, pct)

All sectors (q/q) Q3 +0.9 +1.1 +0.9 Feb 18

All sectors (y/y) Q3 +4.1 +4.1 +4.1

Construction Work Done (s/adj, chain volume measure of value)

Total (q/q) Q3 +4.4 -0.4 +5.0 Feb 25

Total (y/y) Q3 +8.8 +5.9 +6.4

Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (s/adj, pct)

All sectors (q/q) Aug qtr +1.6 +0.9 +1.1 Feb 26

All sectors (y/y) Aug qtr +4.7 +4.0 +4.8

Source: http://www.afxnews.com

India’s central bank said in a statement bond and foreign exchange markets would be closed on Thursday due to the overnight attacks in the financial capital, Mumbai.

“There will be no transactions and settlements in government securities, foreign exchange and money markets today,” the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement.

Settlement of all outstanding transactions will be postponed until November 28, it said in the statement.

The central bank would however conduct liquidity adjustment facility transactions on Thursday as per schedule, it said.

Source: http://www.afxnews.com