The Kuwaiti central bank has succeeded in reducing downward pressure on the dinar by using its daily fixings of the currency's spot rate to deter traders from speculating against it, commercial bankers say. One-year dollar/dinar forwards jumped as high as 780 pts in the last few days of January, the highest level since February 2009. Since then, however, one-year forwards have fallen back, to around 700 pts, and the dinar has strengthened sharply in the spot market, to 0.29849 against the dollar from around 0.3035 - its fastest appreciation since 2010. "The central bank has stemmed further downward pressure on the dinar with its strategy, and has given a clear signal to the market that it will step in to defend the currency when needed," one banker said. Some traders believe the Kuwaiti central bank has imitated the Saudi central bank, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), in deterring oil price-related speculation against its currency. "Fear of a SAMA-style intervention in the dinar forwards market has caused the onshore banks to reduce their positions," a second banker said. (Reuters)