Bond yields dip marginally as activity picks up; Rupee dips

By Wealth Trust Securities 

The fresh trading week commenced with secondary bond market activity picking up towards the latter part of the day as yields dipped. The liquid maturities of 01.07.25, 15.05.26, 15.09.27, 01.05.28 and 15.05.30 saw its yields dip to intraday lows of 16.20%, 15.75%, 15.40%, 15.05% and 14.70% respectively from its opening highs of 16.35%, 15.80%, 15.60%, 15.25% and 15.05%.  

In addition, trades were reported on the 01.05.24 and 01.06.25 maturities at levels of 16.50% to 16.60% and 16.20% to 16.35% respectively as well. The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 21 July 2023 was Rs.11.05 billion. In money markets, the weighted average rates on overnight call money and repo were registered at 11.50% and 12.00% respectively as the net liquidity deficit stood at Rs.161.50 billion yesterday.   The DOD (Domestic Operations Department) of Central Bank injected liquidity by way of overnight and 7-day reverse repo auctions for a total volume of Rs.73.20 billion at weighted average rates of 11.60% and 12.00% respectively while an amount of Rs.88.40 billion was withdrawn from Central Banks SLFR (Standard Lending Facility Rate) of 12.00%.

Forex Market 

In the Forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot next contracts was seen depreciating further yesterday to close the day at Rs.328.50/330.00 against its previous day’s spot closing level of Rs.326.75/328.00 on the back of continued buying interest by banks.

 The total USD/LKR traded volume for 21 July was US $ 21.98 million. 

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