Money Market
In the Treasury bill auction held on Sunday, bid for BDT 5,213.00 million was accepted, compared with total of BDT 9,338.00 million in the previous week's bid. Weighted average yields remained at the same level.

Over night call money rate ranged between 8.00 and 10.00 percent in the beginning of the week. The rate rose to 10.00-12.00 percent during the middle of the week before closing the week at 9.00-11.00 percent.

International FX Market
The dollar dropped to four-month lows against the euro and Swiss franc on Monday after comments from a Federal Reserve official added to selling last week on a growing belief that the Fed's tightening cycle is near an end. Worries about an escalation in the standoff between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear programme, a surge in oil prices and a sharp slide in Wall Street stocks on Friday also gave risk averse investors more reason to sell US dollar.

The dollar steadied against the euro during the middle of the week, staying away from 4-month lows hit the previous session, but with any fresh advance stemmed by worries the Federal Reserve is nearly finished with monetary tightening. The dollar had fallen sharply earlier in the week after Fed officials suggested the central bank's 18-month credit tightening cycle was nearly over and highlighted the dangers of the large US trade and budget deficits. On the data front, the focus in Europe was seen turning to Germany's Ifo business sentiment survey, for evidence of further confidence in Europe's biggest economy. It is expected to climb to 99.8 in January a five-year high, from 99.6 in December.

The dollar steadied on Thursday in cautious trade, hovering above recent four-month lows against the euro ahead of US economic growth data on Friday and next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting. After large swings earlier in the week, currencies were seen starting to settle as traders wait to see whether US gross domestic product figures due on Friday and the Fed meeting on Tuesday give investors more reasons to dump dollars. The dollar was steady against yen, after hitting 2-week highs on Wednesday in buying fuelled by stop-loss orders and options triggers. The New Zealand dollar rose to a one-week high after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand held interest rates at 7.25 percent, but made slightly hawkish comments.

- Standard Chartered Bank