MUMBAI: Indian government bond yields were largely unchanged on Thursday as US yields reversed some of their recent fall, while traders also awaited a fresh supply of domestic bonds this week.
The 10-year benchmark bond yield was at 7.2255% as of 10:00 a.m. IST, after ending the previous session at 7.2204%, its lowest since Oct. 5.
The yield also posted its biggest single-session drop since Sept. 14 on Wednesday.
“After an eventful fall yesterday, we are back to rangebound trading session, as at the current levels, traders are not confident to go big on either side,” a trader with a private bank said.
US yields rose on Wednesday after revised retail sales data showed strong gains in September.
Overall, retail sales dipped 0.1% in October, slightly less than the 0.3% economists polled by Reuters expected. Meanwhile, data for September was revised higher to show sales increasing 0.9% instead of a 0.7% rise.
The move comes after US yields crashed as softer-than-expected consumer inflation led to hopes that rate hikes were done, with the chances of a rate cut shifting to the first half of 2024.
The 10-year US yield dropped nearly 20 basis points (bps) on Tuesday but recouped some of the fall and was at around 4.50% in Asian hours on Thursday.
Meanwhile, India’s retail inflation eased in October to a four-month low, with the annual retail inflation at 4.87%, down from 5.02% the previous month and edging closer to the central bank’s target of 4%.
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Traders will now await a fresh supply of debt as New Delhi will raise 300 billion rupees ($3.61 billion) through the sale of bonds on Friday, which includes 130 billion rupees of the benchmark paper.
Market participants also said constant selling from state-run banks may witness benchmark bond yield seeing a strong resistance around 7.20% levels until some fresh trigger is seen.
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