MUMBAI: Indian government bond yields were largely unchanged at the open on Friday as traders awaited fresh debt supply via the weekly auction and minutes from the central bank’s latest policy meeting.
India’s benchmark 10-year yield was at 6.9801% as of 10:00 a.m. IST, following its previous close of 6.9781%.
New Delhi will sell bonds, including five-year bonds, worth 230 billion rupees ($2.75 billion) later in the day.
“The whole week, traders kept on waiting for cues and hence we saw strong consolidation, and today is expected to be the same,” a trader said.
“If the minutes of the policy point out something unique, we may see some action on Monday.”
India bonds not reacting to strong domestic growth, yields little changed
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will release the minutes of its June policy meeting after market hours on Friday.
The central bank had maintained status quo on rates and stance in June.
Earlier this week, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said India should avoid “adventurism” and continue to focus on bringing down inflation towards its 4% target.
High food prices have been impeding recent easing in inflation, the RBI said in a bulletin, adding that its efforts to rein in prices remain a “work in progress”.
Meanwhile, the 10-year US yield hovered near the 4.25% mark on Friday amid evidence that the economy is finally slowing down and as investors look ahead to next week’s auction of about $183 billion in two-, five- and seven-year Treasury notes.
Traders will also keep an eye on foreign flows as Indian bonds are just a week away from being included in JPMorgan’s emerging market debt index.
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