Thursday, 20 February 2014 00:00
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By Wealth Trust Securities
The Treasury bill weighted averages at this week’s primary auction declined by two basis points across the boards to 6.75% for 91 days, 6.90% for 182 days and 7.08% for 364 days. The auction was dominated by the well-accepted 364-day bill which attracted 55% of the total amount accepted, which was Rs. 8.8 billion more than the initial offered amount of Rs. 10 billion.
In the secondary bonds market, the two most liquid 2018 maturities (i.e. 1 April 2018 and 15 August 2018) decreased to daily lows of 8.85% and 8.98% during the early hours of trading in comparison to its previous day’s closing levels of 8.90/93 and 9.02/06. However, yields increased marginally towards the latter part of the day to close at 8.86/90 and 8.96/00 due to profit taking.
The secondary bill market saw May 2014 maturities changing hands within the range of 6.70% to 6.75% and October 2014 maturities in the rage of 6.85% to 6.90%. Subsequent to the auction, the latest 364-day bill was quoted at 7.05% to 7.10%.
In the money market, overnight call money and repo rates remained steady to average 6.97% and 6.38% respectively as surplus liquidity increased marginally to Rs. 17.50 billion. The Open Market Operations (OMO) department of the Central Bank was seen mopping up an amount of Rs. 9.96 b on a two day basis at a WAvg of 6.66% while a further amount of Rs. 7.54 b was deposited at its Standing Deposit Rate (SDR) of 6.50%.
Rupee continued to be steady
In Forex markets, the USD/LKR rate remained mostly unchanged to close the day at Rs. 130.85/130.90. The total USD/LKR traded volume for the previous day (18-02-14) stood at US$ 130.92 million. Given are some forward dollar rates that prevailed in the market: one month – 131.35; three months – 132.38; six months – 133.78.
