21 December 2024 04:53 am Views - 19
By First Capital Research
The secondary market yield curve remained broadly unchanged ahead of the holiday season, with the secondary market witnessing limited activity and ultra-thin volumes.
Amongst the traded maturities, notable trades were recorded particularly in the 15.02.28 and 15.03.28 maturities, with the rates being traded between 10.13 percent and 10.18 percent.
Meanwhile, on the external front, the Sri Lankan rupee continued to depreciate against the US dollar for the fourth consecutive day, closing at Rs.292.68/US dollar compared to Rs.291.28/US dollar recorded the previous day. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan rupee also depreciated against the other major currencies such as the EUR, CNY and AUD and conversely, the Sri Lankan rupee appreciated against the other major currencies such as the GBP and JPY. The Central Bank holdings of government securities remained unchanged, closing at Rs.2,515.62 billion yesterday. Overnight liquidity in the banking system contracted to Rs.171.15 billion, from Rs.186.66 billion recorded the previous day. Furthermore, on the macroeconomic front, the Central Bank published the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) results on December 16, 2024, for the month of November. Accordingly, the PMI for manufacturing and services both recorded values well above the neutral threshold, at 53.3 and 60.5, respectively.