Money Market
In the Treasury bill auction held on Sunday, bid for BDT 10,195.00 was accepted, compared with total of BDT 11,760.00 million in the previous week's bid.

Overnight money market was steady throughout the week. The call money rate remained unchanged throughout the week and ranged between 6.50 and 7.00 percent.

International FX Market
The dollar weakened across the board on Friday, most notably against the yen, as speculation grew that the Federal Reserve may pause its rate-raising campaign next month. The yen rallied across the board, and extended its gains in New York trading hours. At the beginning of the week, the dollar gained ground on Monday, recovering from the recent sell off sparked by concerns that the Federal Reserve could pause its two-year run of rate rises. The dollar rose half a percent on the day against the yen, but was still off a three-month peak hit on July 19. The euro had fallen 0.5 percent to against the dollar, but was still above the three-month low hit last week.

In the middle of the week, the dollar held steady on Tuesday ahead of key US economic data that could provide fresh insight into whether the Federal Reserve will pause its two-year campaign of credit tightening in August. The dollar is still the world's main reserve currency but its dominance is under threat as central banks of many countries diversify away from the US currency in search of better returns. The euro edged up against the dollar on Wednesday, on some relief buying after a key German business sentiment index came in stronger than expected. But the dollar held on to most of the gains it made on Tuesday, when strong US consumer confidence and home sales data boosted expectations the Federal Reserve will bump up interest rates for the 18th straight time next month. The yen ticked higher against the euro and the dollar, recovering some of its recent losses, and supported by comments from a Bank of Japan policymaker warning of possible further rate rises this year. The euro and the dollar were both down around a third of a percent against the Japanese currency.

At the end of the week, the dollar hit a two-week low against the euro on Thursday, extending the previous session's sharp fall triggered by a Federal Reserve survey suggesting the US economy may be slowing and interest rates could soon peak. The euro also hit a record high against the yen, in anticipation of a European Central Bank interest rate hike next week and on expectations that Japanese rates will stay lower then those of other major economies for some time to come. Although the Bank of Japan raised interest rates for the first time in six years earlier this month, at 0.25 percent they are still far below those of the euro zone or the United States. The European Central Bank is widely forecast to raise rates next week to 3.0 percent from 2.75. The dollar was down 0.1 percent against the euro, just off an earlier two-week low, after falling more than one percent on Wednesday. The dollar also hit a two-week low against a basket of currencies and fell to a one-week low against the yen.

-Standard Chartered Bank