HKMA move spurs hibor rebound

Hong Kong's interbank rates rebounded across maturities after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's intervention last Friday.

The mortgage-related one-month Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate climbed about 20 basis points to 1.05 percent, the highest since May 19. The increase brought the real rate for home loans based on Hibor back to about 2.35 percent.

The overnight rate rose to 0.08 percent, up more than 5 basis points. The three-month rate, which reflects the cost of bank funding, increased to 1.81 percent, up about 3 basis points.

The Hong Kong dollar was trading at 7.85 to the US dollar.

The local currency recently triggered the weak-side conversion guarantee, where each US dollar can be converted into HK$7.85, resulting in two interventions by the HKMA last week wherein the authority bought more than HK$29.6 billion in a single day.

STAFF REPORTER