India Bond Yields Little Changed Ahead Of Debt Sale Outcome

Friday,   18-Jun-2021   01:39 PM (IST)

Indian federal government bond yields were largely unchanged in the afternoon session, as traders awaited the result of a weekly debt sale. The benchmark 5.85% bond maturing in 2030 was unchanged at 98.79 rupees, yielding 6.02%, at 1:00 p.m. in Mumbai. The Indian rupee was at 74.13 to the dollar against 74.08 yesterday. New Delhi is selling 320 billion rupees of bonds today. India’s central bank bought 345 billion rupees of federal debt against a target of 300 billion rupees yesterday. It aims to buy debt worth 1.2 trillion rupees in July-September. The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee has held key interest rates at a record low since last year and has repeatedly said it will remain accommodative to revive growth in the pandemic-hit economy, while ensuring inflation remains within target going forward. The minutes of the panel’s June meeting are due post market hours today. India's rate-setting panel has some time to decide if an inflation spike will persist as demand remains tepid, Ashima Goyal, a member of of the panel, told NewsRise in an interview after the retail inflation print for May breached the RBI’s tolerance ceiling of 6% for the first time since November. The benchmark Brent crude oil contract was trading 0.41% lower at $72.78 per barrel, extending yesterday’s 1.7% fall. India imports nearly 85% of its crude oil requirements.