Thursday, 23 April 2015 10:09
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Primary and secondary market yields continue to plunge
The surplus liquidity in the banking system was seen soaring to a 53-month high of Rs. 130.82 billion yesterday and is expected to increase above Rs. 160 billion by Friday 24 April on the back of Open Market Operation (OMO) maturities.
In line with this and continued buying interest across the yield curve, primary and secondary market yields continued to dip yesterday.
At yesterday’s weekly Treasury bill auction, weighted averages were seen declining across all three maturities, with the 182 day maturity reflecting the sharpest decline of 18 basis points to 6.35%. This was closely followed by the 364 day and 91 day maturities as it reflected declines of 10 bp and 07 bp respectively to 6.19% and 6.50%.
In secondary bond markets, buying interest in morning hours of trading saw yields on the liquid maturities of 15 May 2017, 1 June 2018, 15 September 2019, 1 June 2020, 1 August 2021, 1 July 2022 and 1 September 2023 dip to intraday lows of 7.05%, 7.80%, 8.13%, 8.40%, 8.50%, 8.50%, 8.75% respectively against its days opening highs of 7.25%, 8.07%, 8.28%, 8.50%, 8.60%, 8.60% and 8.90%.
However, the downward trend was limited at these levels following the outcome of the auction results on the back of profit taking. In addition, a limited amount of activity was witnessed on the 15 March 2025 maturity as well within the range of 9.15% to 9.25%.
In money markets yesterday, overnight call money and repo rates decreased further to average 6.16% and 5.99% respectively as surplus liquidity reached a 53 month high of Rs. 130.82 billion.
Rupee dips marginally
Meanwhile in forex markets yesterday, the USD/LKR rate on two week forward contracts dipped marginally to close the day at. 133.95/05 against its previous day’s closing levels of 133.90/95. The total USD/LKR traded volume for 21 April was at $ 40.14 million.
Some of the forward dollar rates that prevailed in the market were: one month – 134.30; three months – 135.17; and six months – 136.90.
