Bond market at a standstill

By Wealth Trust Securities

The fresh trading week commenced on a lethargic note yesterday as activity in the secondary bond market was at a standstill. Trades were only seen on the maturities of two 2021s (i.e. 01.08.21 and 15.10.21), 15.09.24 and 01.02.26 at levels of 4.84%, 4.90%, 6.09% to 6.12% and 6.55% respectively.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volumes for 18 September was Rs. 4.3 billion.   In the money market, the overnight net liquidity surplus was registered at Rs. 155.59 billion yesterday with an amount of Rs. 160.93 billion having being deposited at the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) of 4.50% against an amount of Rs. 5.34 billion been drawn down from the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of 5.50%. The weighted average rates of overnight call money and Repos stood at 4.52% and 4.61% respectively.

LKR trades within a steady range

In the Forex market, USD/LKR rate on spot contracts was seen trading within the range of Rs. 185.50 to Rs. 185.60 yesterday before closing the day mostly unchanged at Rs. 185.45/52.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 18 September was $ 47.35 million.   

(References: Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond trading platform, Money broking companies)