Total amount accepted at primary Treasury bill auction drops to five week lows

Thursday, 18 August 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Wealth Trust Securities

The total amount accepted at the weekly Treasury bill auction dropped to five week lows of Rs. 14.5 billion, reflecting only 63% of the total offered amount of Rs. 23 billion.

The weighted averages of the 182 day and 364 day maturities increased by 2 basis points each to 9.94% and 10.74% respectively while the weighted average of the 91 day maturity remained unchanged at 9.01%.

In the secondary bond market, yields of the liquid maturities of 15.09.19, 01.03.21, 01.08.24 01.08.25 and the two 2026’s (i.e. 01.06.26 and 01.08.26) were seen increasing to daily highs of 11.52%, 11.92%, 12.25%, 12.50%, 12.54% and 12.55% respectively when compared against the previous day’s opening levels of 11.45/50, 11.86/90, 12.18/25, 12.35/42 and 12.47/52 each .

In the meantime, treasury bills maturing in February 2017 and August 2017 were quoted at levels of 9.70/85 and 10.75/85 respectively.

In money markets, the overnight call money and repo rates remained mostly unchanged to average 8.40% and 8.48%, as an amount of Rs. 45 billion was injected on an overnight basis at a weighted average of 8.34%. The net liquidity shortfall in the system stood at Rs. 46.47 billion.

Rupee remains broadly steady

The USD/LKR rate on spot, spot next and one week forward contracts remained mostly unchanged to close the day at Rs. 145.50/55, Rs. 145.58/62 and Rs. 145.72/77 respectively.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for the 15th of August 2016 was $ 48.35 million.

Some of the forward USD/LKR rates that prevailed in the market were one month – 146.40/50; three months – 148.00/20 and six months – 150.40/60.