Currency Briefing - what you need to know for Wed April 4, 2012

The Singapore dollar continues to trade within a tight range against the US dollar, sitting at $1.2548.

IG Markets Singapore said:

The Singapore dollar has held up against the greenback despite last night’s rally against major currencies.

The Fed’s open market committee (FMOC) met last night and quashed hopes of a third round of quantitative easing (QE3) happening anytime soon. This led to a spike in the dollar while equities and commodities fell.

But the Singapore dollar has held up against the US dollar currently sitting at $1.2548 as it continues to trade within a tight range.

Asian currencies have been helped by a firmer risk sentiment after a slew of upbeat manufacturing data, notably from the US and China. Singapore also posted some resilient factory output data today with its manufacturing and electronics sectors seeing further strengthening, although overall output was slightly down.

The local currency is likely to chart a steady course against the greenback as we head towards the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s semi-annual policy meeting this month which will discuss the appreciation of the currency.

RBS meanwhile reported (for 3 April 2012 trading):

The USD was largely treading water versus most of the G10 currencies, with the exception of GBP and AUD, ahead of the March FOMC minutes.

The minutes did not show any discussion of new policies or strategies and largely reflect the cautious, yet somewhat more constructive tone, from the March statement. The headlines in the press, however, were decidedly more hawkish than the minutes and boosted the USD across the G10 as US yields and swap rates rose across the curve.

Even after market participants had time to digest the minutes, the USD held onto its inter-session gains, with EUR/USD below 1.3240 and USD/JPY around 82.80 at the time of writing.

If you've been wondering whether SBR could work for your company — yes, probably.

A lot of the companies we partner with started as readers. They'd been following our coverage for a while, saw their own customers and competitors in it, and eventually asked the obvious question: could we do something with you? The answer is usually yes. The shape of it depends on what you're trying to do.

The options are broader than most people assume — thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. Some partners use one channel; most use a mix. We figure out the right combination by starting with your brief, not with our rate card.

So if the question has been on your mind, here's the easy way to ask it.

We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia