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Daily report for the 02nd April 2025 – Courtesy Wealth Trust Securities Ltd
- T-Bill Auction Undersubscribed for 2nd Straight Week; Rates Increase for the First Time in 20 Weeks
- Secondary Bond Market Yields Surge; Activity Slows Down
The weekly Treasury bill auction went undersubscribed at the 1st phase for the second consecutive week, with only 55.73% or Rs 78.02 billion of the total Rs 140.00 billion amount offered. This was despite total bids received exceeding the offered amount by 1.30 times.
Meanwhile the weighted average yield rates were seen increasing across the board for the first time in 20 weeks. Accordingly, the weighted average rate on the 91-day tenor increased by 09 basis points to 7.59%, the 182-day tenor by 07 basis points to 7.91% and the 364-day tenor by 06 basis point to 8.31%.
The 2nd phase of subscription for the auction will be opened for all three maturities at the weighted average rates until close of business of the day prior to settlement (i.e., 3.00 pm on 03.04.2025). Given below are the details of the auction;
In the secondary bond market, rates were seen edging up during the day with a notable surge following the Treasury Bill auction results. Market activity and transaction volumes were seen at relatively subdued levels.
The 01.08.26 maturity was seen changing hands at levels of 8.75%-8.77%. The 01.05.27 maturity was seen trading at the rate of 9.40% while the 15.09.27 and 15.10.27 maturities within the range of 9.50%-9.60%. The 15.09.29 and 15.12.29 maturities traded at the rates of 10.45%-10.50% and 10.55% respectively.
The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volume for 01st April 2025 was Rs. 12.20 billion.
In money markets, the weighted average rates on overnight call money and Repo stood at 7.96% and 7.96% respectively.
The net liquidity surplus stood at Rs. 174.44 billion yesterday. Rs. 0.06 billion was withdrawn from the Central Banks SLFR (Standing Lending Facility Rate) of 8.50%, while an amount of Rs. 174.38 billion was deposited at Central Banks SDFR (Standard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. 296.02/296.07 as against its previous day’s closing level of Rs. 296.10/296.20.
The total USD/LKR traded volume for 01st April 2025 was US $ 100.78 million.
(References: Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg E-Bond trading platform, Money broking companies)