India bonds barely move with all eyes on RBI debt purchase

MUMBAI: Indian government bonds were range-bound amid shallow trading volumes on Thursday, as market participants awaited the outcome of the central bank’s debt purchase later in the day.

The benchmark 10-year yield was at 6.5914%, as of 10:00 a.m. IST (0430 GMT), after ending at 6.5995% on Wednesday.

Bond yields rise when prices fall.

The Reserve Bank of India is set to buy 500 billion rupees ($5.53 billion) worth of bonds, including the former benchmark 6.33% 2035 note.

The yield on this paper was slightly higher at 6.6095%.

Last Thursday, the RBI bought a similar quantum at higher-than-estimated prices, pushing its bond-buying for the financial year to a record high and also leading to a brief rally.

Traders are hoping for a similar outcome.

“Until there is clarity on RBI’s demand at the open market operation (OMO), the market will not break out in any particular direction and hence volumes are light and the benchmarks are barely moving,” a trader with a primary dealership said.

Bond yields have largely risen over the last few days, even after the RBI cut rates by 25 basis points and announced an infusion of 1.45 trillion rupees via bond-buying and FX swap. Foreign investors have net sold $1.1 billion worth of bonds so far in December, which pushed yields higher, as market participants wager that the central bank’s rate-cut cycle is over.

The sale also accounts for a fourth of the purchases made by these investors in the July-November period.