No rate cut in sight, below-avg monsoon: Bond rally may soon ebb in India

India’s bond rally is petering out as expectations for more rate cuts by the central bank are fading and the all-important monsoon season comes into focus.

Predictions for below-average rain by a private forecast earlier this month has raised the specter of increasing food costs combining with higher oil prices, even as the state-run weather office Monday said the monsoon is likely to be in the lower end of the normal range.

That risk may stay the hand of the Reserve Bank of India from adding to two rate cuts this year even though economic growth is weakening, according to ICICI Bank