Short-Dated Gilts In The Limelight

NSE REPORT

Short-dated securities - with maturities up to three years - continued to hog the limelight and prices of government securities were down a tad on the eve of the auction for four-year paper at the wholesale debt market (WDM) segment of the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The total volume traded in the segment was Rs 391.52 crore yesterday.

The zero-coupon bond (series III) maturing in 2000 saw trades for Rs 30 crore. The bonds were traded at a weighted average yield of 10.95 per cent.

The most actively traded security continued to be the 11.55 per cent 2001 paper which was traded at a weighted average yield of 11.48 per cent for a total volume of Rs 58 crore. The 11.64 per cent government loan maturing in 2000 was traded for Rs 30 crore, at a weighted average yield of 10.97 per cent. In the debentures segment, the total traded volume stood at Rs 598.91 lakh. The zero-coupon debentures of Reliance Capital maturing in 2002 comprised the major portion of the traded value, and was traded for Rs 371.49 lakh at an indicative yield of 16.16 per cent. The 17.5-per cent debentures floated by Ashok Leyland maturing in 2000 was dealt at an indicative yield of 13.94 per cent.