October 18 (SeeNews) - The Romanian leu on Thursday closed weaker against the euro amid a regional currency correction and high volatility, dealers said.
"The leu opened at around 3.3410/40 versus the euro. It reached an intraday high of 3.3380 in the morning, followed by an intraday low of 3.3620/40", one dealer told SeeNews. "Foreigners were selling local currencies in emerging markets, such as Poland and Hungary after U.S. stocks opened down, dragged by lower earnings reported by Bank of America," the dealer said. "The leu was also affected, eventually closing at 3.3560/90 per euro, cheaper than 3.3430/50 on Wednesday."
"Until the end of the year we will be witnessing continuous high volatility, but the general trend for the leu is to appreciate [...] so at the end of December it is expected to be at the level of 3.12 per euro," the dealer anticipated.
The leu closed at 3.3400/20 per euro on Tuesday.
The Romanian central bank (BNR) set its reference exchange rate, used for statistical purposes, at 3.3451 lei per euro on Thursday, compared to 3.3484 on Wednesday. For the dollar, the reference exchange rate was set at 2.3470 versus Wednesday's 2.3616 lei.
Interest rates on overnight leu deposits were at an average of 6.44%/7.03% on Thursday, compared to 6.41%/7.04% on Wednesday.
Turnover on the interbank leu deposit market rose to 2.15 billion lei on Wednesday from 353 million lei on Tuesday. The BNR will issue Thursday's figures on Friday.
Following are Thursday's average bid and ask quotes of commercial banks on Romania's interbank market. They were calculated at 11 a.m. (0800 GMT) by the BNR, based on data provided by 10 commercial banks (in percent):
|
|
BUBID |
BUBOR |
| ON |
6.44 |
7.03 |
| TN |
6.47 |
7.07 |
| SW |
6.61 |
7.32 |
| 1M |
6.73 |
7.55 |
| 3M |
6.79 |
7.64 |
| 6M |
6.79 |
7.70 |
| 9M |
6.79 |
7.70 |
| 12M |
6.76 |
7.67 |