Sunday Oct 27, 2024
FT
Sunday Oct 27, 2024
Thursday, 10 October 2024 02:15 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Wealth Trust Securities
At the weekly Treasury bill auction conducted yesterday, yields were seen declining for the third consecutive week, mirroring the downward trajectory in the secondary market.
In particular, the shorter tenor securities saw rates fall steeply to register below 10.00%, reaching levels last seen in early September. Accordingly, the weighted average rate for the 91-day tenor dropped by 37 basis points to 9.69%, while the 182-day tenor decreased by 42 basis points to 9.95%. The 364-day tenor saw a marginal decline of four basis points, bringing the rate to 10.00%.
Total bids received exceeded the offered amount by 2.86 times, and the entire Rs. 85.00 billion on offer was successfully raised at its first phase.
The second phase of the auction will be opened across all three tenors at the weighted average rates until close of business of the day prior to settlement (i.e., 4 p.m. on 10.10.2024).
Meanwhile, the secondary bond market remained active yesterday as yields were seen increasing further during morning hours of trading. However, subsequent to the bill auctions, the market was seen closing the day broadly steady, as yields decreased once again on renewed buying interest.
Accordingly, the popular liquid 15.02.28 initially rose to an intraday high of 11.90% before recovering to an intraday low of 11.77%. The other 2028 tenors followed suit, with the 01.05.28 also declining from an intraday high of 11.90% to a low of 11.80%. The 15.09.29 maturity was observed trading at the rate of 12.00%. The 2026 tenors of 15.05.26, 01.06.26, and 01.08.26 traded within the range of 10.35% to 10.30%. The 2027 tenors of 01.05.27 and 15.09.27 changed hands at the rates of 11.30% and 11.40%, respectively.
The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 8 October was Rs. 3.56 billion.
In money markets, the weighted average rates on overnight call money and repo stood at 8.54% and 8.69%, respectively.
The DOD (Domestic Operations Department) of the Central Bank injected liquidity by way of an overnight reverse repo auction for a total volume of Rs. 34.87 billion at a weighted average rate of 8.48%.
The net liquidity stood at a surplus of Rs. 132.21 yesterday, as an amount of Rs. 154.93 billion was deposited at the Central Bank’s SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 8.25%.
Forex market
In the Forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts closed the day broadly steady at Rs. 293.00/293.20 against its previous day’s closing level of Rs. 293.10/293.30.
The total USD/LKR traded
volume for 8 October was
$ 94.03 million.
(References: Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond trading platform, Money broking companies)
