Wednesday Aug 19, 2026
Wednesday Aug 19, 2026
Wednesday, 19 August 2026 04:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Wealth Trust Securities
The secondary Bond market yesterday experienced a modest uptick in yields on the back of profit taking pressure and as global oil prices extended gains. However, strong renewed buying interest provided robust support and capped the upward movement in yields and brought rates back down to close broadly steady. Trading activity and volumes remained moderate.
The 15.12.29 maturity traded within a range of 10.62%–10.60%, while the 15.05.30 and 01.08.30 traded at 10.80% and 10.85%, respectively, earlier in the day.
However, as renewed buying interest emerged, yields edged lower across several maturities. The 15.10.30 and 01.02.31, which touched intraday highs of 10.85% and 11.00%, subsequently traded down to lows of 10.75% and 10.95%, respectively. Similarly, the 15.12.32 and 15.10.34 traded down to lows of 11.35% and 11.88%, after touching highs of 11.40% and 11.95%, respectively.
Further along the curve, the 15.08.36 bucked the trend trading down from12.08%–12.05%, while the 01.07.37 followed suit, initially trading at 12.20% before declining to 12.12%.
The Treasury Bill auction scheduled for today, will have a total of Rs. 140 billion Treasury Bills on offer, higher than the estimated maturing amount of Rs. 123.31 billion. This will comprise of Rs. 55 billion offered on the 91-day maturity, Rs. 45 billion on the 182-day maturity and Rs. 40 billion on the 364-day maturity.
To recap: The weekly Treasury Bill auction held last Wednesday experienced a sharp downward shift in weighted average yields for a fifth consecutive week, with all three tenors recording the steepest decline yet.
The 91-day Bill led the decline, shedding 33 basis points to 9.44%, followed by the 182-day and 364-day Bills, which fell by 21 and 18 basis points to 9.78% and 10.01%, respectively.
Demand remained robust, with the Public Debt Department fully raising the Rs. 140 billion on offer, while total bids amounted to 2.76 times the offered amount. Strong appetite extended into the second phase, where the full Rs. 14 billion on offer was taken up against subscriptions of Rs. 142.45 billion, bringing the aggregate accepted amount to Rs. 154 billion.
In the money market, the net liquidity surplus stood at Rs. 142.85 billion yesterday. Of this, Rs. 98.45 billion was deposited at the Central Bank’s Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) at 8.25%. Further Rs. 44.40 billion was mopped up through an overnight repo auction conducted by the Domestic Operations Department (DOD) at a weighted average rate of 8.75% as well as Rs. 20 billion via a term repo at the rate of 8.99%.
The weighted average rates on overnight call money and repos were 8.79% and 8.83% respectively.
Forex market
The USD/LKR rate on spot contracts closed the day at Rs. 331.90/332.00, with the rupee continuing to appreciate against the previous day’s close of Rs. 332.00/332.20.
The total USD/LKR traded volume on 17 August was $ 103.30 million.
(References: Public Debt Management Office - Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond Trading Platform, Money Broking Companies)
