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Daily report for the 20th January 2025 – Courtesy Wealth Trust Securities Ltd
- Secondary Bond Market Starts Off Slow; Yields Edge Up marginally
- Rupee Depreciates
The secondary bond market began the new trading week on a dull note yesterday, remaining virtually at a standstill during the earlier part of the day, apart from some sparse trades on slim transaction volumes. However, activity picked up slightly towards the latter part of the day. As a result, overall transaction volumes were seen at moderate levels. Meanwhile, yields were seen edging up marginally during the day, with closing market 2-way quotes to ending the day higher.
Accordingly, limited trades were observed on select maturities. The 15.05.26 maturity was observed trading at the rate of 8.95%. The 2027 tenor 01.05.27 maturity was seen trading at the rate of 9.70%. The 15.03.28 and 01.05.28 maturities were seen trading within the ranges of 10.17%-10.18% and 10.29%-10.31% respectively. The 15.10.30 maturity was seen changing hands at the rate of 11.30%.
Meanwhile, in secondary market bills February/March 2025 maturities were seen changing hands at the rates of 8.20%-8.15% (below 3 months). June/July 2025 (approximately 6 months) bills were seen trading at the rate of 8.35%-8.32%. In addition, 07th November 2025 maturity (close to 12 months) was seen trading at the rate of 8.50%.
The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 17th December was Rs. 17.39 billion.
In money markets, the weighted average rates on overnight call money and Repo stood at 8.00% and 8.03% respectively.
The net liquidity surplus stood at Rs. 136.82 billion yesterday. Rs. 2.13 billion was withdrawn from the Central Banks SLFR (Standing Lending Facility Rate) of 8.50%, while an amount of Rs. 134.69 billion was deposited at the Central Banks SDFR (Standard Deposit Facility Rate) of 7.50%.
Forex Market
In the Forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts closed the day depreciating to Rs. 296.90/297.10 against its previous day’s closing level of Rs. 296.40/296.60.
The total USD/LKR traded volume for 17th December was US $ 122.20 million.
(References: Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond trading platform, Money broking companies)