Bond yields edge up slightly on active trade; rupee depreciates further

By Wealth Trust Securities

The secondary bond market commenced the week on an active note yesterday, albeit seeing yields edging up slightly due to selling interest on the back of profit taking. Accordingly, trades were seen on the two 2026’s (01.06.26 & 01.08.26) and two 2028’s (01.05.28 & 01.07.28) at levels of 14.10% to 14.30% and 13.45% to 13.80% respectively.

In secondary market bills, December 2023 and February/March 2024 maturities saw trades at levels of 17.85% and 15.10% to 15.60% respectively.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 15 September 2023 was Rs. 34.64 billion.

In money markets, the DOD (Domestic Operations Department) of Central Bank injected liquidity by way of an overnight repo auction for a volume of Rs. 21.10 billion at a weighted average rate of 11.41%. The net liquidity deficit stood at Rs. 72.39 billion yesterday.

Further an amount of Rs. 53.70 billion was withdrawn from Central Banks SLFR (Standard Lending Facility Rate) of 12.00% while the weighted average rates on overnight call money and repo was registered at 11.43% and 11.79% respectively

Forex Market 

In the Forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts closed at Rs. 324.00/324.40 yesterday against Friday’s closing level of Rs. 323.25/323.75.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 15 September was $ 11.00 million. 

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