Bonds market takes U-Turn; rupee stable

By Wealth Trust Securities

The secondary bond market yields took a U-turn yesterday as it increased, reversing a decreasing trend witnessed during the previous two days.

Yields on the liquid maturities of 01.07.25, 15.05.26 and 15.09.27 increased to intraday highs of 31.75%, 27.85% and 27.00% respectively against its previous day’s closing levels of 29.95/00, 26.60/90 and 26.10/25.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 08 March 2023 was Rs. 11.99 billion.   

In money markets, the net liquidity deficit stood at Rs. 53.56 billion yesterday as an amount of Rs. 18.05 billion was deposited at Central Banks SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 15.50% against an amount of Rs. 71.61 billion being withdrawn from Central Banks SLFR (Standard Lending Facility Rate) of 16.50%. The weighted average rates on overnight call money and REPO stood at 16.47% and 16.50% respectively.

Forex Market 

In the Forex market, the USD/LKR or rupee on its spot contracts were traded within the range of Rs. 315 to Rs. 323 yesterday against its previous day’s range of Rs. 317 to 323 and closed the day at Rs. 320.00/325.00 as opposed to Rs. 321.00 to 335.00 the previous day.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 8 March was $ 148.15 million.   

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