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Informist, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026

By Vaishali Tyagi

NEW DELHI – Corporate bond yields were steady on Monday due to a lack of fresh domestic and global triggers, with mixed trading activity as mutual funds rebalanced portfolios and other participants made need-based trades. Dealers added that selling across various tenures offset buying demand from other participants, with all transactions being just requirement-based.

"NCD (non-convertible debentures or corporate bonds) yields were broadly flat with 1-2 bps up and down, with investors showing up for portfolio churning," a fund manager at a mutual fund house said. "MFs and a few others were active on both sides, but key players like EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) and other pension funds were focused on the primary market."

Dealers said overall volume in the secondary market remained dull, as market players focused on key issuances in the primary market, resulting in requirement-based churning in the secondary market. In the secondary market, deals aggregating to INR 78.03 billion were recorded on the National Stock Exchange and BSE combined Monday, down from INR 97.61 billion Friday.

Mutual funds have been trading short-to-medium-term corporate bonds, while banks were holding back, preferring money market instruments instead, dealers said. Pension funds and insurance companies are also being selective, buying only specific papers that fit their requirements, they said.

Papers issued by HDB Financial Services, Provincial Finance And Leasing, India Grid Trust, Profectus Capital, Cholamandalam Invest And Finance, Krazybee Services, MAS Financial Services, Satin Creditcare Network, Power Finance Corp., Satin Creditcare Network, SI Creva Capital Services, National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development, Edelweiss Financial Services were traded the most on the exchanges Monday.

Activity in the primary market rose significantly with issuances worth over INR 75 billion scheduled for Monday, INR 5.90 billion scheduled for Friday. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development raised INR 67.79 billion through bonds maturing on Mar. 16, 2029, at a coupon of 7.01%. "The coupon came in as it was expected and response to the issuance was good," an official at the company said. A company official had earlier told Informist that they expect the coupon to be set at 7%. 

The state-owned company had planned to raise up to INR 70 billion through the issuance which had a base size of INR 20 billion and greenshoe option of INR 50 billion. According to the bid book accessed by Informist, the company received 145 bids aggregating INR 196.14 billion in the coupon range of 6.87-7.20%. The bonds, rated 'AAA' by ICRA Ratings, will be allotted Tuesday. 

While highlighting that corporate bond primary market may see a surge, a dealer at a brokerage firm said, "Companies, issuers, and investors all have specific requirements and issuers need to meet board-approved fundraising targets, while investors have mandatory corporate debt investment quotas. With this being the last quarter, everyone is aggressively meeting their FY26 requirements."

UDAY BONDS

In the secondary market, five Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana bonds worth INR 65.30 million were traded Monday, according to data on the RBI's Negotiated Dealing System-Order Matching system.

* INR 30.00 million of Uttar Pradesh's 8.63%, 2029 bond was dealt at 6.7671%

* INR 13.00 million of Telangana's 7.96%, 2032 bond was dealt at 7.3177%

* INR 10.00 million of Telangana's 8.04%, 2031 bond was dealt at a weighted average of 7.2201%

* INR 7.00 million of Tamil Nadu's 7.92%, 2032 bond was dealt at 7.3378%

* INR 5.30 million of Haryana's 8.18%, 2026 bond was dealt at 6.1331%

BENCHMARK LEVELS FOR CORPORATE BONDS

End

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

With inputs from Aaryan Khanna

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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