Secondary market concludes day amidst slight buying interest

The secondary market witnessed slight buying interest during yesterday’s session, with interest largely spanning on the mid tenures of the yield curve.

Interest was primarily focused on the 15.03.28 and 15.12.28 maturities, with trades taking place between 12.05 percent to 12.10 percent price points. However, volumes continued to remain thin during the day.

Moreover, on Friday, the Central Bank announced a T-bill auction worth Rs.155.0 billion, with Rs.45.0 billion expected to be raised from the 91-day maturities, whilst Rs.70.0 billion and Rs.40.0 billion are expected to be raised from the 182-day and 364-day maturities, respectively.

Meanwhile on the external side, the banking sector liquidity continued to observe swings between positive and negative since the beginning of the year and recorded a negative liquidity position of Rs.77.1 billion during yesterday whilst CBSL Holdings continued to improve from last week to Rs.2,691.3 billion, from Rs.2,715.6 billion recorded at the beginning of the month.

Furthermore, we witnessed the first reduction in private sector credit growth after seven months, where private sector credit growth declined by Rs.52.2 billion to Rs.7,314.2 billion whilst AWPLR remained stagnant at 11.35 percent compared to last week.

Moreover, the Sri Lankan rupee continued to appreciate against the greenback and recorded at Rs.305.24, up 5.8 percent year-to-date. Meanwhile, foreign holdings on the Central Bank securities increased to Rs.96.0 billion, from Rs.88.7 billion in last week.