The Hong Kong dollar strengthened slightly against the US dollar on Tuesday after rangebound trade, while interbank rates were steady to a touch firmer from the previous session. One dealer said the spot market spent the day within a 10-tick range and he had not seen big flows.
Another dealer said there had been some corporate demand for the Hong Kong dollar in recent sessions, but there appeared to be no clear reasons, and he forecast the USD/HKD spot rate could test 7.7515 in the near term. The HKD is pegged at 7.8 to the USD but can trade between 7.75 and 7.85.
In the interbank market, short-dated rates held steady and dealers reported that a major lender had offered overnight money in the morning session. The overnight interbank rate stayed at 0.0005 percent. But the one-month to one-year interbank rates nudged higher, taking their cues from firmer interest rate swaps (IRS), dealers said.