In the ringgit bond market, buying interest were seen concentrated around the five-year to 10-year region of the MGS yield curve as yields eased by four bps to seven bps, partially owing to the issuance of the new benchmark MGS on Wednesday.
As a result of such movements, the Thomson Reuters BPAM All Bond Index recorded gains of 0.151 per cent and closed at 157.484 points from 157.246 points last Friday.
Trading activities in ringgit bond market picked up as the transaction for the top 10 most actively traded bonds registered an increase of RM0.5 billion compared to RM8.7 billion last week.
The newly issued seven-year benchmark MGS paper maturing on March 14, 2025 topped the list, followed by 10-year benchmark MGS paper with RM1.7 billion and RM1.66 billion changed hands respectively.
The tender for the new issuance of the seven-year benchmark MGS maturing on March 14, 2025 closed on March 13, 2018.
The issuance size amounts to RM3 billion with an additional RM1 billion to be privately placed. The tender closed with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.347 times.
The highest, average and lowest yield came in at 3.889 per cent, 3.882 and 3.87 per cent respectively.
On March 12, 2018, Fortune Premiere Sdn Bhd issued a five-year Islamic Medium Tenure Note (IMTN) with an issuance size of RM250 million.
The IMTN carries profit rate of 4.8 per cent and is rated AA IS with stable outlook by MARC.
On March 14, 2018, Cagamas Bhd issued a two-year Medium Term Notes (MTN) with coupon rate of 4.1 per cent.
The RM750 million MTN is rated AAA with stable outlook by MARC and RAM Ratings.
AmBank (M) Bhd issued a 10-non-call-five-year MTN with an issuance size of RM350 million.
The MTN carries a coupon rate of 5.230 per cent and is rated AA3 by RAM Ratings with stable outlook.
AMMB Holdings Bhd issued a 10-non-call-five-year MTN with an issuance size of RM350 million.
The MTN carries a coupon rate of 5.230 per cent and is rated A1 by RAM Ratings with stable outlook On March 16, 2018, Gamuda Bhd issued a RM400 million five-year IMTN with profit rate of 4.785 per cent.
The IMTN is rated AA3 with stable outlook by RAM Ratings.
Al Dzahab Assets Bhd issued RM135 million worth of Class A IMTN with maturity ranging from three to seven years and a RM45 million Class B IMTN with an expected maturity of seven years.
Class A IMTN carries profit rate between 4.85 and 5.15 per cent while the Class B IMTN carries profit rate of 6.0 per cent.
Class A IMTN is rated AAA while Class B IMTN is rated AA3 with stable outlook by RAM Ratings.
Additionally, they also issued an unrated Class C IMTN with issuance size of RM26.52 million.