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Indian bonds jumped towards close of Asian session Wednesday after the appointment of new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor cast shadows over the central bank’s monetary policy actions.
The new appointee, Shaktikanta Das, a former official of the Ministry of Finance, succeeded to the RBI’s epitome with immediate effect, after his predecessor Urjit Patel resigned from his post a day earlier, citing personal reasons.
The current governor is a high-profile supporter of the 2016 demonetization adopted by the Narendra Modi government and will serve his term for a total of three years. Clashes between the RBI and the central government are also expected to ease following his appointment, with the latter pressing for looser credit rules and a pause in further rate hikes ahead of the 2019 general election.
The yield on India’s benchmark 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, plunged 8 basis points to 7.446 percent, the yield on the long-term 19-year bonds slumped 6-1/2 basis points 7.699 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded 4-1/2 basis points lower at 7.212 percent by 06:00GMT.
According to a Reuters poll of 40 economists, India’s consumer price inflation is expected to stall to a 16-month low in November, from 3.31 percent to 2.80 percent, following a dip in food and fuel prices. This further backs the RBI’s decision to not hike rates at its monetary policy meeting last week.
However, the comeback of synergy between the U.S. and China over resumption of trade talks seem to have a pull-down effect on debt prices, restricting it to rise further. Asian stocks witnessed a positive trading session on hopes of fruitful trade steps between the duo, calming the trade truce that rattled markets over the recent past.
Meanwhile, the Brexit worries continue to haunt investor sentiments worldwide, with UK Prime Minister Theresa May wary of a no-confidence vote that could risk her position and end up in a no-Brexit deal three months before the deadline expires.
At the time of writing, India’s benchmark SENSEX rose 1.12 percent to 35,545.69 and NIFTY50 followed a 1.10 percent rise to 10,666.35, while the USD/INR slipped 0.37 percent to 72.06.
