Indias Bond Investors

The gap between yields on India's 10-year and 40-year bonds, a marker of the premium investors ask for buying long-term notes, spiked to a nearly three-year high of 40 basis points in February

State-owned Bank of Baroda on Monday announced that it has raised Rs 5,000 crore through a 10-year infrastructure bond issuance subscribed by domestic investors. This is the second issuance from the lender in a fortnight after the Rs 5,000 crore sale on August 26 and comes amid a raft of such issuances. Banks have become more aggressive at tapping into such avenues given the slower deposit growth in the system. The bank was able to squeeze the pricing of the newest offering to 7.26 per cent, 0.04 per cent lower than its last one, officials said, adding this is the tightest pricing for an issuance in recent times. Both the issuances were oversubscribed nearly three times, and it was investor feedback on missing out at the last issuance that prompted the bank to come back with another offering sooner. With the latest issuance, the bank has exhausted the board's approved limit to raise Rs 10,000 crore from infra bond issuances and there are no immediate plans to raise more, the offic

The currency fell 0.1 per cent in the week to end at 83.47, and the losses would have been larger had it not been for the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) intervention

NBFC firm Navi Finserv on Monday said it plans to raise up to Rs 600 crore through issuance of Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) to fund business growth. The total issue size includes a green shoe option of up to Rs 300 crore to retain oversubscription. The secured, rated, listed NCDs will have tenors of 18, 27, and 36 months and offer effective yields between 10.47-11.19 per cent per annum, the company said in a statement. The issue would open for subscription from February 26 onwards, it said. The funds raised through the bond issue will be used for onward lending, financing, loan repayment, and general corporate purposes, it said. This is the third capital raise through NCDs in the last two years by Sachin Bansal-led Navi Finserv.

India's benchmark 10-year yield was at 7.0808% as of 10:00 a.m. IST, following its previous close of 7.0789%

Reliance Industries has paid less than what state governments have for similar issues in the recent past, indicating an "ultra-strong appetite" for high-rated longer-duration papers, bankers added

While Amit had stayed invested for a long time, avoided leverage, and shunned investment-cum-insurance policies, unplanned investments and mindless diversification had produced a disappointing outcome

Standard Chartered's Sahay said the gap between investments and advances will narrow only gradually

The govt needs to examine its options to join global central securities depositories without ceding tax sovereignty. This could considerably delay India becoming a part of global bond indices.

Some investors say a sell-off in Indian dollar bonds last year has created bargain hunting opportunities, and issuers will likely want to make the most of that sentiment before the polls open

SLR or mandatory share of deposits that banks have to invest in govt bonds, is now at 19.5%, which itself is lower than earlier requirement of 24%