Thursday, 21 August 2014 00:00
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Wealth Trust Securities
The weighted averages (WAvg) at yesterday’s weekly Treasury bill auction continued its declining trend for a 48th consecutive week to remain below Central Banks Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) of 6.50%.
The WAvgs of the 182 day bill and the 364 day bill were seen dipping by two basis points (bp) and one bp respectively to 6.28% and 6.30%, while all bids for the 91 day bill were rejected for the first time in 15 weeks.
The total accepted amount was seen falling behind the total offered amount for the first time in seven weeks as well, with the 364 day bill continuing to represent a high proportion of 87.34% out of the total accepted amount of Rs. 4.39 billion.
Activity in secondary bond markets picked up yesterday as yields were seen edging up during morning hours of trading, mainly on the maturities of 15 May 2017, the two 2018s (i.e. 1 April 2018 and 15 August 2018), the 1 July 2019 and 1 July 2022 to intraday highs of 7.60%, 7.60%, 7.65%, 7.60% and 8.60% respectively against its previous day’s closing levels of 7.25/35, 7.35/45, 7.45/55, 7.45/55 and 8.40/50.
However buying interest at these levels coupled with the outcome of the weekly Treasury bill auction, saw yields dip once again to close the day lower than its previous day’s closing levels.
In secondary bill markets, November 2014 bills were seen changing hands within the range of 6.35% to 6.45% and January 2015 bills within the range of 6.40% to 6.50% pre-auction while subsequent to the auction, May 2015 bills were quoted at levels of 6.30/45, June 2015 at 6.35/45 and June 2015 at 6.40/50.
In money markets, overnight call money and repo rates remained steady to average 6.70% and 6.55% respectively as overall surplus liquidity stood at Rs. 33.56 billion yesterday, with the total amount been deposited at CBSL’s Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) of 6.50%.
Rupee dips marginally
The dollar/rupee rate was seen dipping marginally to an intraday low of Rs. 130.22 yesterday against its previous day’s closing of Rs. 130.15/20 on the back of net foreign selling at the Colombo Bourse according to market sources.
The total USD/LKR traded volumes for 19 August stood at $ 71.60 million.
Given below are some forward dollar rates that prevailed in the market: one month – 130.55; three months – 131.18; six months – 132.20.'