The sovereign bond market witnessed a pointy sell-off on Friday because the Reserve Financial institution of India’s (RBI’s) unequivocal dedication to bringing down inflation got here as a shock to the market, which had pinned its hopes on a softer method by the central financial institution.
The yield on the 10-year benchmark 6.54 per cent 2032 paper jumped 14 foundation factors to shut at 7.30 per cent on Friday, marking the sharpest single-day rise for the reason that RBI unexpectedly introduced a price hike on Might 4.
Bond costs and yields transfer inversely. An increase of 1 foundation level within the 10-year bond yield corresponds to a fall of roughly 7 paise in value.
The RBI’s Financial Coverage Committee, on Friday morning, introduced a 50-basis-point rise within the repo price to five.40 per cent, and reiterated its stance to give attention to withdrawal of lodging. Extra importantly for the market, the central financial institution didn’t decrease its inflation forecast of 6.7 per cent for the present monetary yr, regardless of acknowledging that there have been indicators of inflation peaking.
The clear takeaway for the market was that in a world atmosphere rendered extraordinarily risky by the Ukraine struggle and the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive coverage tightening, the RBI was not going to take its foot off the pedal.
In line with treasury officers, the magnitude of affect on the bond market on Friday had been amplified by elevated hypothesis of the RBI signalling a much less aggressive path forward.
From August 1 to August 4, the yield on the 10-year benchmark authorities bond declined by 17 foundation factors as a mix of things, together with a technical recession within the US and stories of the RBI leaning in the direction of a softer price hike path, prompted merchants to fill up on bonds.
“There have been expectations that the RBI would trace at going gradual. The worldwide theme has modified to some extent. Oil costs are down, and US Treasury yields are coming down. Earlier expectations of Fed hikes are coming off a bit,” Shailendra Jhingan, MD and CEO, ICICI Securities Major Dealership, informed Enterprise Customary.
“In opposition to that backdrop, the market felt that the RBI could possibly be a bit dovish however that didn’t occur. The RBI governor was completely clear that it’s a risky atmosphere and it’s very powerful for the RBI to provide visibility. I assume the market had run forward of itself and it’s now correcting,” he mentioned.
Jhingan sees the yield on the 10-year bond within the vary of seven.30-7.50 per cent within the coming months.
In line with Treasury officers, now that the speculative frenzy of a ‘dovish’ RBI has been dispelled, market ranges are extra aligned with elementary rate of interest expectations. This has broader implications as authorities bond yields are the benchmarks that decide borrowing prices throughout the financial system.
Tellingly, on the present juncture, merchants don’t see the 10-year bond yield revisiting the three-year excessive degree of round 7.60 per cent that was touched in mid-June, even because the RBI is prone to elevate rates of interest additional.
At present ranges, the unfold of practically 200 foundation factors that exists between the repo price and the 10-year bond yield exhibits that the bond market has already priced in a substantial amount of coverage tightening.
Merchants are of the view that as surplus liquidity within the banking system shrinks attributable to forex leakages in the course of the festive season within the latter a part of the calendar yr, the RBI might have room to buy bonds and assist the federal government’s borrowing programme.
The RBI stopped open market purchases of presidency bonds in October 2021 as a result of such acquisitions result in sturdy addition of liquidity within the banking system. Nevertheless, as the federal government’s debt supervisor, there are expectations that the RBI might step in to purchase bonds and enhance demand-supply dynamics in view of a record-high borrowing programme of Rs 14.3 trillion.
“We firmly consider there will likely be a fourth purchaser within the bond market. That fourth purchaser might be FPIs, though it doesn’t appear to be that at this juncture, except sure issues change dramatically. In any other case, the RBI must be the fourth purchaser,” Jayesh Mehta, Financial institution of America’s India nation treasurer, mentioned in an interview with Enterprise Customary final week.
