THE yield of benchmark Treasury bills plunged during Monday’s auction at the Bureau of the Treasury as stock-market investors shifted their investments to bonds due to volatility in the trading.

As a result of more bids from the investors, the government raised P9.8 billion from the said auction, or P800 million more from its original offer.

Yield of the 91-day T-bills, the benchmark of banks when pricing their loans, slid by 109.4 basis points to .979 percent. Total tenders reached P14.86 billion, and the government made a P2.8-billion award or P800 million more from its offer.

At the secondary market, the done deal for the similar paper was quoted at 1.85 percent.

“There’s a lot of liquidity in the market because the funds are moving from the stock market,” National Treasurer Roberto Tan said after the auction.

“Aside from the withdrawals [from the local stock market], there are some foreign funds coming in,” Tan said.

He added that the foreign funds are going to the capital market since overseas investors cannot go to the special deposit account (SDA) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The SDA is one of the tools of the central bank open to domestic banks to siphon off excess liquidity in the market.

Meanwhile, the rate for the 182-day T-bills also went down by 135 basis points, to a flat 1 percent. Volume of bids reached P13.7 billion and the auction committee made a full award of P3 billion.

At the secondary market, the said tenor is trading at 1.975 percent.

The 364-day paper reached an all-time low of 1.5 percent or 125 basis points lower than the previous rate. The said yield was an all-time low since the agency started auctioning off government securities on 1987.

Tenders reached P14.64 billion, and the government made a full award of P4 billion.

The done deal rate for the said tenor at the secondary market is at 2.375 percent.

For the week, the government’s maturities is at P9 billion, of which P2 billion is payable against the bond sinking fund.