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Informist, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026

 

By Nandini Sinha

 

MUMBAI – Corporate bond yields ended broadly steady on Friday due to lack of major cues. Bonds maturing in three years were traded actively with a downward bias in yields, dealers said. Traders avoided taking large positions in bonds maturing in five years and above. Overall, trading activity remained subdued as dealers avoided taking positions ahead of the weekend.

 

"This week was dull. People were on leave because of festivals...a lot of fund managers were on leave," a dealer at a brokerage said. Market participants expect secondary market volume to pick up pace next week. "The market is stable now. The volume should go up next week onwards," a dealer at another broking firm said. 

 

The indicative yield on three-year bonds issued by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development fell to 7.73-7.75% from 7.75–7.80% Thursday, while the indicative yield on NABARD's five-year bonds was 7.80-7.82%, slightly down from 7.80–7.85% Thursday. The indicative yield on NABARD's 10-year bonds was unchanged from 7.85% Thursday. 

In the secondary market, deals worth INR 39.10 billion were recorded on the National Stock Exchange and BSE combined as at 1500 IST, up from INR 35.27 billion at the same time Thursday. However, secondary market volume picked up towards the end of trading hours Friday, with total deals worth INR 120.33 billion recorded.

 

Papers issued by Piramal Finance, Bajaj Finance, Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board, Reliance Industries, REC, and IIFL Finance were actively traded.  

 

Life insurance companies and pension funds bought papers. "Mutual funds and banks are basically churning portfolios. They were buying as well as selling," the dealer at the second brokerage said.

 

On Monday, Bajaj Auto Credit Ltd. will seek to raise INR 2.5 billion through the issuance of six-year bonds. IndiaFirst Life Insurance Co. Ltd. will seek bids to raise INR 2 billion through the issuance of 10-year bonds maturing on Sept. 22, 2036. Sindhuja Microcredit Pvt. Ltd. plans to raise INR 1 billion through the issuance of bonds maturing in June 2028, dealers said. 

 

Market participants will track movement in crude oil prices and developments in the US-Iran war to take positions next week, expecting yields on corporate bonds to be broadly steady. "It's just crude, geopolitical developments we're tracking, and also US tariffs," the dealer at the second brokerage said.

 

The US House of Representatives passed a sanctions bill Wednesday, allowing the Trump administration to impose up to 100% tariffs on countries buying crude oil and natural gas from Russia. The bill, which impacts countries including India, is pending US President Donald Trump's approval.

 

UDAY BONDS

In the secondary market, two Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana bonds worth INR 2.50 million were traded Friday, according to data on the Reserve Bank of India's Negotiated Dealing System–Order Matching System.

* INR 2.00 million of Telangana's 7.96%, 2032 bond was dealt at 7.5270%

* INR 500,000 of Uttar Pradesh's 8.77%, 2031 bond was dealt at 7.1859%

 

BENCHMARK LEVELS FOR CORPORATE BONDS:

 

Tenure	Friday	Thursday
Three-year	7.73-7.75%	7.75–7.80%
Five-year	7.80-7.82%	7.80–7.85%
10-year	7.85%	7.85%

 

End

 

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

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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