India bond yields fall as focus shifts to key inflation numbers: Report

Indian government bond yields ended lower on Monday as the focus shifted to local as well as U.S. inflation prints due this week.

The benchmark 10-year yield ended at 7.0946% following its previous close of 7.1067%.
 

India's retail inflation likely eased to a three-month low of 5.09% in January on slowing food price rises and favourable base effects, according to economists polled by Reuters, who also predicted a moderation in core inflation to 3.70%.
 

The data is due after market hours on Monday.
 

"Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will not be in a hurry to cut interest rates as growth has held up and inflation remains above 4%-target," Gaura Sen Gupta, an economist at IDFC First Bank, said.
 

 

Sen Gupta expects the central bank rate cut cycle to start from June or August.
 

Last week, the RBI kept policy rates and stance unchanged, while reiterating its commitment to meet the medium-term 4% inflation target.
 

"The last mile of disinflation is always the most challenging and that has to be kept in mind," RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said.
 

India's inflation stood at 5.69% in December, while core inflation eased to a four-year low of around 3.80%.
 

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury yields stayed elevated before the key inflation print on Tuesday, which will provide clues on when the Federal Reserve is likely to begin cutting interest rates.
 

The 10-year U.S. yield was around 4.15% in Asian trade, with the odds for a rate cut in March remaining around 17% and that for such an action in May around 63%, down from over 97% last month.
 

On Tuesday, nine Indian states will aim to raise 175 billion rupees (about $2 billion) through sale of bonds.