Bulk of the deals were seen in the 13.82 per cent 2002 paper, which was being offered at a discount in the secondary market. The six-year paper is being picked up by banks, as it is proving profitable on account of the commission being offered to them by the primary dealers.
Most of the transactions in the subsidiary general ledger account of the RBI reflected that the primary dealers were offloading this security to the banks after the auction held on Tuesday. Yesterday, deals were conducted at Rs 99.75/99.69, indicating that the security was being offered at a discount of more than 30 paise.
On the 13.5 per cent 1997 security, which is usually a favourite in the securities market, buyers showed considerable interest at 13.25 per cent, but selling interest was absent. Trading interest in treasury bills was subdued.
The certificate of deposit (CD) of ICICI, which is maturing on January 2, 1997, saw a higher yield of 14.30 per cent for the next day's value. Earlier, the CD did not fetch such high yields as the rates in the money markets were prevailing at lower levels then.
The zero coupon bond 1999 was trading at a yield of 14.08 per cent. However, on the whole, trading sentiment in the government securities market continued to be low because of high call money rates.
Dealers in the money market were of the opinion that liquidity in the market would ease soon as a 1 per cent cut in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) requirements of banks was on the cards.