Short-term rates close on steady note

Short-term rates closed steady today, with Bank Negara Malaysia intervening in the money market to absorb excess liquidity, dealers said. The liquidity surplus in the conventional operations fell to RM16.05 billion from the RM26.58 billion estimated in the morning, while the excess in the Islamic system eased to RM3.01 billion from RM7.78 billion. The central bank conducted 10 tenders, four conventional tenders, one repo tender, one commodity murabahah programme and four Al-Wadiah tenders. Bank Negara also issued a late conventional tender for RM16 billion and an Al-Wadiah tender for RM3.2 billion, both for one-day money. The overnight rate stood at 2.94 per cent, while the one-week, two-week and three-week rates were pegged at three per cent, 3.02 per cent and 3.04 per cent, respectively.