scorecardresearchBond yields jump post debt supply, rise in first week of 2023

Bond yields jump post debt supply, rise in first week of 2023

Updated: 06 Jan 2023, 04:28 PM IST
TL;DR.

  • Yields were little changed for the week with investors waiting for fresh economic cues.

Savings bonds are one of the safest long-term investment options available to investors.

Savings bonds are one of the safest long-term investment options available to investors.

(Reuters) - Indian government bond yields jumped on Friday as debt sale boosted supply, while traders cut positions after the government's weekly debt auction.

Yields were little changed for the week with investors waiting for fresh economic cues.

The benchmark 10-year yield ended at 7.3736%, highest since November 9, after closing at 7.3271% on Thursday.

It posted its biggest single day rise since November 3, ending four basis points higher for the week.

"Traders do not want to hold excess stock, and hence after the auctions, they aggressively offloaded stock in secondary market, said Debendra Kumar Dash, senior vice president, treasury, at AU Small Finance Bank.

New Delhi on Friday raised 280 billion rupees ($3.39 billion)through the sale of bonds which included 120 billion rupees of the benchmark note.

"People are turning cautious before the U.S. data, as the Fed may turn more aggressive," Dash added.

Monthly U.S. non-farm payrolls data was due later in the day with economists polled by Reuters expecting 200,000 job additions.

The jobs report assumes importance in the wake of the data this week that pointed to a robust U.S. labor market.

The employment component of the ISM manufacturing index, the private payrolls number and the initial jobless claims data have all indicated that the U.S. labor market is holding up well so far to the Federal Reserve's rate hikes.

Aggressive rate hikes from the Fed will also put pressure on the Reserve Bank of India, which has already hiked the repo rate by 225 basis points in 2022 in its fight against inflation.

The U.S. data will be followed by December inflation readings for India and the U.S. follow, both due next week. Traders also await the federal budget announcement, likely on Feb. 1, for the next financial year's borrowing plan.

Market participants expect bond yields to remain under upward pressure in the run up to the budget as fears of another year of elevated borrowing sets in.

 

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First Published: 06 Jan 2023, 04:28 PM IST