Saturday Sep 28, 2024
Saturday Sep 28, 2024
Wednesday, 8 November 2023 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Wealth Trust Securities
The demand for Treasury bills continued yesterday in the secondary market as November/December 2023 and January/February 2024 maturities traded down to lows of 13.75% and 15.05% respectively from its opening highs of 14.05% and 15.25%, on the back of considerable volumes changing hands. This was ahead of the weekly Treasury bill auction due today.
Today’s weekly Treasury bill auction will have in total an amount of Rs. 165 billion on offer which will consist of Rs. 70 billion on the 91-day maturity, Rs. 65 billion on the 182-day maturity and a further Rs. 30 billion on the 364-day maturity. Last week’s auction (held on 03.11.23) saw a total amount of Rs. 181.25 billion taken up at the 1st and 2nd phases of the auction against a total offered amount of Rs. 145 billion. The weighted average yield on the 91-day bill dropped by 17 basis points to 15.93% while it remained unchanged on the 182-day bill and the 364-day bill at 14.93% and 13.02% respectively.
The secondary bond market saw an uptick in activity yesterday while yields held steady. Accordingly, trades were seen on the liquid maturities of the two 25’s (01.06.25 and 01.07.25), two 26’s (15.05.26 and 01.08.26) and 01.07.28 within the ranges of 14.90% to 14.95%, 15% to 15.21% and 15% respectively.
The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 06 November 2023 was Rs. 14.98 billion.
In money markets, the DOD (Domestic Operations Department) of Central Bank injected liquidity by way of an overnight reverse repo auction of Rs. 12.69 billion at the weighted average rate of 10.07%. Furthermore, an amount of Rs. 9.11 billion was withdrawn from Central Banks SLFR (Standard Lending Facility Rate) of 11.00% while an amount of Rs. 1.25 billion was deposited in the Central Banks SLDR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 10.00%. The net market liquidity deficit stood at Rs. 20.55 billion yesterday.
The weighted average rates on overnight call money and repo were registered at 10.26% and 10.67% respectively.
Forex Market
In the Forex market, the Rupee or USD/LKR rate on spot contracts depreciated, closing trading yesterday at Rs. 327.50/327.90 against its previous day’s closing level of Rs. 326.75/327.25.
The total USD/LKR traded volume for 06 November 2023 was $ 91.85 million.
(References: Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond trading platform, Money broking companies)
