Secondary bond and bill markets at a standstill

By Wealth Trust Securities

The new trading week commenced on a dull note as activity in the both the secondary bond and bill markets were at a standstill yesterday with market participants opting to be on the sidelines. Limited trades were witnessed on the 15.01.27 and 01.09.28 maturities at 11.10% and 11.55% to 11.56% respectively.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 5 November 2021 was Rs. 1.61 billion.   

In money markets, the Domestic Operations Department (DOD) of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was seen draining out amounts of Rs. 24.70 billion and Rs. 4 billion by way of overnight and a seven-day repo auctions at weighted average rates of 5.98% and 5.97% respectively. It further drained out an amount of Rs. 10 billion by way of a 14-day repo auction at a weighted average rate of 6.05%, valued today. The net liquidity deficit increased to Rs. 192.21 billion yesterday as an amount of Rs. 73.84 billion was deposited at Central Banks SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 5% against an amount of Rs. 294.75 billion withdrawn from Central Banks SLFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 6%. The weighted average rates on overnight call money and repo remained mostly unchanged at 5.93% and 5.98% respectively. 

USD/LKR   

In the Forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts traded within a narrow range of Rs. 202.97 to Rs. 202.99 yesterday. 

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 5 November 2021 was $ 58.90 million.   

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