Bond market commences trading week on a dull note

• NCPI jumps to 17.50%

By Wealth Trust Securities 

The bond market commenced the trading week on a dull note yesterday with majority of market participants opting to be on the side-lines. Only the 01.08.24 maturity was seen trading at a level of 14.35%.

Meanwhile, the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) for the month of February was seen spiking to a high of 17.50% at its announcement yesterday in comparison to its previous month of 16.8%. The annual average also increased to 9.3% against 8.1%.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 18 March was Rs. 3.78 billion.   

In money markets, the net liquidity deficit stood at Rs. 525.90 billion yesterday as an amount of Rs. 95.97 billion was deposited at Central Banks Standard Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) of 6.50% against an amount of Rs. 621.87 billion withdrawn from Central Banks Standard Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of 7.50%. The weighted average rates on overnight Call money and REPO stood at 7.49% and 7.50% respectively.

Furthermore, the Domestic Operations Department (DOD) of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was seen injecting an amount of Rs. 50.00 billion by way of a 31 day reverse Repo auction at a weighted average rate of 9.43%, valued today.

Forex market 

In the forex market, limited trades on the USD/LKR cash contracts was seen at levels of Rs. 279.00 to Rs. 285.00 yesterday while overall activity remained moderate.    The total USD/LKR traded volume for 18 March was $ 67.38 million.  

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