Bond yields have been falling since Friday after stronger-than-anticipated demand at the auction triggered a sharp drop in yields in the secondary market.
Traders said yields were also down because global and domestic monetary policy pivots supported sentiment. Strong demand, especially from foreign banks, has aided as they have bought bonds worth 135 billion rupees ($1.65 billion) on a net basis in the last five sessions, data from Clearing Corp of India showed. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained a status quo on its policy rate earlier this month, and easing inflation has cemented bets that there would be a prolonged pause, despite a hawkish tilt in the minutes of the policy. India's March retail inflation dropped to 5.66% and is set to ease below 5% in April. Meanwhile, market participants expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to also maintain a pause on rates after hiking them one last time on May 3. The 10-year U.S. yield eased below the 3.50%-mark.
New Delhi will sell bonds worth 310 billion rupees on
Friday, while states aim to raise 60 billion rupees via bond
sale later in the day.
($1 = 81.8700 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Sohini Goswami)