Activity dries up ahead of weekly Treasury bill auction

By Wealth Trust Securities

Activity in the secondary bond market dried up considerably yesterday ahead of today’s weekly Treasury bill auction, conducted one day ahead due to a shortened trading week. A very limited amount of activity was witnessed on the 01.03.2021 and the two 2026 maturities (01.06.26 & 01.08.26) within the range of 11.85% to 11.88% and 12.47% to 12.50% respectively.

Today’s weekly Treasury bill auction will see a total amount of Rs.23 billion on offer consisting of Rs. 5.5 billion each on the 91 day and 182 day maturities and a further Rs. 12 billion on the 364 day maturity. At last week’s auction, weighted averages increased on the 91 day and 182 day maturities to 9.01% and 9.92% respectively while the 364 day dipped to 10.72%.

Meanwhile in money markets, an amount of Rs. 45 billion was injected yesterday on an overnight basis at a weighted average of 8.34% as call money and repo rates remained broadly steady to average 8.40% and 8.47% respectively. The net liquidity shortfall in the system stood at Rs. 46.11 billion.

Rupee steady

The USD/LKR rate on the spot, spot next and one week forward contracts remained steady to close the day at Rs. 145.50/55, Rs. 145.52/60 and Rs. 145.72/76 respectively yesterday as markets were at equilibrium. The total USD/LKR traded volume for the 12th of August 2016 was $ 67.50 million.

Some of the forward USD/LKR rates that prevailed in the market were 1 Month - 146.40/50; 3 Months - 148.10/25 and 6 Months - 150.45/60.