The secondary market continued to witness mixed sentiment during the week on the back of expectations on the IMF progressions while volumes slightly improved compared to the previous week. Accordingly, yield curve marginally budged low largely across all maturities.
The week commenced on a dull note as investors sought for clarity on the progressions made in securing the IMF board level agreement. However, a gradual buying interest developed during the beginning of the week as IMF considered approving the EFF without China's assurance on debt restructuring. Accordingly, buying appetite was witnessed on 2025, 2026 and 2027 maturities with moderate volumes. However, during the latter part of the week, selling pressure emerged after the decline in yields observed during the previous sessions.
At the primary market T-Bill auction, CBSL partially accepted the offered, of which majority was accepted from the longer tenure bills while bond yields slid down on 91-day and 365-day maturities. Thus, bill yields of the 91-day maturity recorded a marginal dip of 11bps to 29.72% whilst the yields of the 182-day maturity remained unchanged at 28.67%. Moreover, auction yields of the 364-day maturity recorded a marginal dip of 04bps to 27.67% during the auction.
In the Forex market, the Rupee slightly appreciated against the greenback with rupee being recorded at Rs. 361.7 compared to Rs. 361.9 recorded during the beginning of the week.
Courtesy: First Capital Research (Feb 22)