Halister News

(Bloomberg) -- NTPC may price $bench 10Y bond today, IPT +275bp area; Nomura expects steepening of India curve to persist and recommends sticking with notes maturing in less than 10 yrs.

• “We suggest investors maintain a defensive stance on India bonds heading into the budget,” analysts including Sonal Varma say in Feb. 19 note; NOTE: Govt to present budget Feb. 29
  • “With a decent rise in yields behind us, we do not rule out some relief for the bond market after the budget”
  • Bonds been under pressure past few mos.; fiscal uncertainty one of the main reasons for this
• Yield on India’s 7.59% Jan. 2026 bond -5bps to 7.74% Feb. 18
  • India’s bonds, forex mkts were closed Fri. for a local holiday
• Yield on 5Y AAA INR corp. bonds little changed at 8.48% Feb. 18; YTD range 8.33%-8.48%
• JPMorgan India USD bond index -4.5bps to 5.26%; YTD range 5.16%-5.53%
• CNX Nifty Index futures +0.3% to 7,223.5 as of 9:52am in Singapore; cash +0.3% to 7,210.75 Feb. 19; BSE Sensex +0.3% to 23,709.15
• Treasuries fell Fri., led by short maturities after Jan. CPI rates rose more than forecast, yields across the curve reached session highs after CPI increases; they retreated from those levels, led by long end, as WTI crude fell as much as 5.6%, and as economists said CPI was influenced by large increases in volatile categories that may not be repeated
  • 10Y UST yield +1.6bps to 1.762% as of 7:25am in Mumbai

WHAT TO WATCH

• HDFC Bank modifying bonds issued from Bahrain branch
  • HDFC Bank’s plan to modify bond terms proactive, MUFG Securities says
• RBI to hold auction of INR207b of bonds for states tmrw
• India’s forex reserves rise $347.2m to $351.8b as of Feb. 12

INDIA PRIMARY MARKETS

• NTPC plans INR10b 5Y bonds
• SBI sells INR30b 10Y Tier 2 bonds at 8.45%
• Andhra Bank issues INR8b PerpNC5 bonds at 10.95%
• HDFC Bank plan to modify bond terms proactive, MUFG Sec says
• Lafarge, L&T, HDFC among Indian cos. to repay at least INR130.4b of rupee bonds this mo.
• Click here for roundup of India upgrades, downgrades
• India Bond Pipeline

GLOBAL MARKETS

• 5/30s UST spread steady at 138
• S&P 500 futures +0.4% to 1,923.10; cash closed little changed at 1,917.78
• Brent crude +0.6% to $33.20/bbl
• Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Spot index little changed at 1,220.27

INDIA RATES MARKET

• 2/10 spread at +46.3bps; YTD high 58.6bps; YTD low 38.5
• 1Y INR swap rate 6.9450%; 5Y MIFOR 6.88%
• INR little changed at 68.47/USD; 1-mo. USD/INR NDF 69.18; 3- mo. USD/INR NDF 69.87; call money rate 6.3%
• RBI operations:
  • Drains INR113.84b added via 4-day repo Feb. 18
  • Drains INR150.04b added via 4-day variable repo Feb. 18
• Foreign institutional investors bought $29.9m bonds Feb. 17