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Dealings in corporate bonds at the country's capital markets dropped by 27% to Rs 68,381 crore in June over the preceding month -- the lowest recorded so far in the current fiscal.
Trading worth about Rs 93,946 crore in corporate bonds was reported by NSE, BSE and Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India (FIMMDA) during May, the latest data released by market regulator Sebi showed.
June figures were also 21.6% less than Rs 87,226.5 crore recorded in the same month last year.
With this, trades in corporate bonds for the April-June quarter of the current fiscal stood at Rs 2.37 lakh crore, down nearly 26% from the same period a year-ago.
Trading worth Rs 3.19 lakh crore in corporate bonds was reported during first quarter of financial year 2013-14.
Individually, National Stock Exchange (NSE) represented the largest share of trading in corporate bonds (80%), during June this year. Bonds worth nearly Rs 54,783.42 crore were traded on the bourse in the month.
Trades in bonds amounting to Rs 13,597.75 crore were seen on the BSE, while Rs 20 lakh worth of dealings were reported by FIMMDA, in the last month.
FIMMDA is an association of scheduled commercial banks, public financial institutions, primary dealers and insurance companies.
The reporting platform at FIMMDA began on September 1, 2007 and enables entities to report their deals in bonds in one platform.
For the quarter this year, NSE reported Rs 1.94 lakh crore trades in bonds, while BSE and FIMMDA trading stood at Rs 43,328.81 crore and Rs 31 lakh respectively.
Corporate bonds or debt securities are issued by private and public firms to raise money for various purposes like building a new plant, purchasing equipment or business growth.
When an entity buys a corporate bond, one lends money to the firm that issued the security and in exchange the company promises to return the money on a specified maturity date.
