India s 10-year Bond Yield Poised For 5th Weekly Fall; Rupee Gains India s 10-year Bond Yield Poised For 5th Weekly Fall; Rupee Gains Sentiment for bonds was buoyed by the Reserve Bank of India s Rs 35,000 crore worth bond buy on Thursday, while a fall in U.S. Treasury yields also helped.
Updated: May 21, 2021 3:44 pm IST
Bond yields have dropped in each of the last five weeks and in eight out of the last 10
India s benchmark 10-year bond yield posted its fifth straight weekly fall, while the rupee rose sharply in late trade to its highest level since end March on dollar sales by foreign banks and an uptick in domestic shares. Sentiment for bonds was buoyed by the Reserve Bank of India s Rs 35,000 crore worth bond buy on Thursday, while a fall in U.S. Treasury yields also helped. India s benchmark 10-year bond yield closed up one basis point on the day at 5.98 per cent, but ended down one bp on week.
India’s central bank is under pressure to step in to keep yields in check after the government surprised bond markets with a bigger-than-expected borrowing plan. That puts the burden on Governor Shaktikanta Das to calm the bond traders when he meets to decide policy on Friday. He’s already had to assuage them that a recent measure to mop up excess liquidity isn’t a step toward changing the RBI’s accommodative policy and the central bank has rejected bids at two auctions of benchmark debt after investors sought higher yields. India will borrow a gross Rs 12 trillion ($164 billion) via bonds in the fiscal year beginning April, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday, higher than the Rs 10.6 trillion estimated in a Bloomberg survey. Bonds sold off on the announcement, with the benchmark 10-year yield rising 16 basis points to 6.06 per cent while the 5.15 per cent 2025 bond yield rose 27 basis points.