In: Finance
8. The following data are taken from the financial market pages of an Australian newspaper.
Forward Margins
Forward Contract | Forward Margins (Buy A$/Sell A$) |
1 month | 0/1 |
2 months | 1/2 |
3 months | 1/3 |
6 months | 2/4 |
1 year | 0/1 |
2 years | -16/-8 |
3 years | -51/-11 |
A) What do the forward rates indicate in terms of whether the A$ is expected to strengthen or weaken with respect to the US dollar?
Since the forward margin is given in ascending order it indicates that the foreign currency is at premium i.e. the forward or expected future price for a currency is greater than the spot price. It indicates that the current domestic exchange rate is going to increase against the other currency. i.e. AS is expected to strengthen with respect to USD