Money Market
In the Treasury bill auction held on Sunday, bid for BDT 3,415.00 million was accepted, compared with total of BDT 2,895.00 million in the previous week's bid.

Overnight money market was more or less steady throughout the week. The call money rate was high at the beginning of the week and ranged between 14.00 and 16.00 percent, but as the week progressed, the rates fell and at the end of the week ranged between 8.00 and 10.00 percent.

International FX Market
In the beginning of the week, the dollar gained against the euro and yen on Friday with the greenback posting its first back-to-back weekly gains against the euro in three months. The euro has lost 1.8 percent in the last two weeks but remains up 7.4 percent for the year. The core reading removes volatile food and energy costs. The dollar eased against the yen and euro on Monday as investors regained their appetite for risk after recent market jitters, but trade was thinned by public holidays in the US and Britain. The dollar was down a third of a percent on the day against they yen. Euro was up 0.13 percent, but still more than two cents below its one-year high around hit in mid-May.

In the middle of the week, the dollar fell against the yen and euro on Tuesday after a British newspaper reported that Don Evans, a possible successor to US Treasury Secretary John Snow, was likely to favour a weaker dollar. Analysts said that the dollar's sharp move on the report highlighted the increased volatility that has been seen in the markets over the past couple of weeks.

The euro was edging towards a one-year peak hit in the middle of May after the Group of Seven called for more appreciation in Asian currencies to reduce the US trade deficit and surpluses in many Asian countries. The dollar stabilised on Wednesday after sliding the previous day as the nomination of a top Wall Street banker for US Treasury chief did little to dispel suspicions that Washington wants a weaker dollar. The dollar posted its biggest one-day loss against a basket of currencies since early January on Tuesday as US President George W Bush named Goldman Sachs Chairman Paulson to succeed John Snow as treasury secretary. The yen briefly rose after the Chinese central bank reaffirmed its commitment to deepen foreign exchange reform and boost the flexibility of its currency.

At the end of the week, the dollar was higher against most major currencies on Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting stoked expectations that the central bank will raise interest rates again in June. A sell-off in emerging markets, commodities and metals -- including a 2 percent drop in the price of spot gold also prompted buying of dollars as people reinvested their money in the US currency.

- Standard Chartered Bank