More Stories

Informist, Tuesday, May 13, 2025

By Ashna Mariam George

MUMBAI – Corporate bond yields fell in the secondary market Tuesday after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday, dealers said. Yields on three-year and five-year bonds were down by 8-10 basis points and those on 10-year bonds fell by 5-6 bps, dealers said. The ceasefire was reached after director generals of military operations of both the countries spoke Saturday. 

"On Friday, the levels were higher due to uncertainty and fear in the market, now that a ceasefire has happened, there is unwind (lowering) of the fears," a dealer at a mid-sized private sector bank said. "There will be sporadic rounds of firing and ceasefire violations, but can't see that escalating into a full-blown conflict. As a country, we have made our stance clear that we don't want to escalate the issue further."  

Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in an interview with CNN Monday said the ceasefire between the two countries could be threatened if the "water issue" is not resolved in the upcoming talks and it "will amount to an act of war". On Apr. 23, India had put the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan in abeyance, a day after terrorists killed 26 people in Pahalgam.

Market participants also assessed India's CPI inflation for April which fell to a 69-month low of 3.16%, down from 3.34% in March. Retail inflation in April is largely in line with the estimate of 3.2% according to an Informist poll.

"Inflation is under control and is below the RBI's target (Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 4%), it's a good news for the market and we expect more rate cuts...the RBI is expected to maintain a dovish stance," a dealer at a mid-sized brokerage firm said. This is the sixth month in a row that CPI inflation has declined and also the third consecutive month when it has stayed below the RBI's medium-term target. 

In the secondary market, deals aggregating INR 135.16 billion were recorded on the National Stock Exchange and the BSE combined, down from INR 151.81 billion Friday. Money markets were shut Monday for Buddha Purnima. Mutual funds and banks were active on both buying and selling sides, along with few pension funds and insurance companies on the buying side, dealers said.

The papers traded most on Tuesday were those issued by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corp., the Small Industries Development Bank of India, the Export Import Bank of India, and Apex Homes Pvt. Ltd. 

In the primary market, the India Infrastructure Finance Co. Ltd. raised INR 20 billion through 10-year bonds at 7.08%. On Wednesday, Jio Credit Ltd., earlier Jio Finance Ltd., has invited bids to raise up to INR 10 billion through bonds maturing in three years. 

UDAY BONDS

None of the Ujjwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana bonds were traded in the secondary market Tuesday, according to the Reserve Bank of India's Negotiated Dealing System–Order Matching System.

BENCHMARK LEVELS FOR CORPORATE BONDS:

End

Edited by Subhojit Sarkar

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.