MUMBAI: Indian government bond yields edged up in early trading on Friday, as traders braced for fresh debt supply via a weekly auction, while minutes of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest policy meeting reiterated inflation concerns.
The benchmark 7.26% 2033 bond yield was at 7.2021% as of 10:00 a.m. IST, compared to its previous close of 7.1963%.
New Delhi aims to raise 330 billion rupees ($3.99 billion) through the sale of bonds, and the auction includes 140 billion rupees of the new 10-year 7.18% 2033 bond, which will replace the existing benchmark bond in the coming days.
“If we see any hint of weak demand at the auction, benchmark will break the 7.20% mark comfortably, but major action will happen only next week after Federal Reserve’s commentary,” a trader with a private bank said.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will closely monitor the factors impacting inflation and take necessary action, although it expects the recent spike in food prices to be short-lived, minutes of the latest MPC meeting showed.
India’s retail inflation spiked to a 15-month high of 7.44% in July, raising fears that the central bank may turn hawkish.
India bond yields seen rising on elevated US peers
Nomura said the RBI is reserving monetary policy firepower for now, while relying on liquidity tightening as a proxy tool for quasi-tightening.
“We expect the RBI to remain on a prolonged pause for now, but it may continue with liquidity tightening.”
Meanwhile, US yields rose again, with the 10-year yield rising to 4.25% ahead of US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole, due after market hours.
It had eased below 4.20% on Thursday after having risen to 16-year high of 4.3660% on Tuesday.
The odds of another rate hike by the Fed have risen to around 20%, while concerns over interest rates staying higher for longer continue to dominate investor sentiment.
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