The 10-year benchmark 7.26% 2032 bond yield ended at 7.3480%, after closing at 7.3495% on Tuesday. India's fixed income market was shut on Wednesday for a local holiday. Earlier in the session, bond yields fell, mirroring their U.S. counterpart, after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by an expected 25 basis points, and signalled one more hike in coming months.
The two-year U.S. yield was at 3.97%, while the 10-year yield was at 3.48%.
With the key Fed announcement out of the way, the market is now focusing on domestic events such as the borrowing calendar as well as the RBI policy decision on April 6, dealers said.
"The RBI is expected to raise rates by 25 bps in April as inflation continues to remain above 6%. Although, if the regional banking situation in the U.S. takes a turn for the worse ahead of the RBI’s meeting, the possibility of a pause remains," Sakshi Gupta, principal economist at HDFC Bank said.
India's February retail inflation was at 6.44%, above the RBI's target band for the second month. The RBI has raised the repo rate by 250 bps since last March to 6.50%.
The benchmark bond yield is expected to be in the range of 7.25-7.35% in the near term, as lower global yields pull local yields down, while pressure from domestic supply in the new fiscal will set a floor for yields, HDFC's Gupta said.
The Indian government's borrowing for April-September is
likely to be between 55% and 58% of its gross annual borrowing
target of 15.43 trillion rupees. The government is likely to
meet the central bank officials to discuss a plan on Monday.
(Reporting by Bhakti Tambe; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
