Mumbai: The bond and forex markets remained insulated despite equity indices taking a blow due to slower GDP growth. Softening of crude oil prices provided support to the rupee, while bond prices were steady as prospects of sharp rate hikes faded with slower-than-expected growth in the first quarter of FY23.
The rupee, which was trading strong against the dollar for most of the day, closed 10 paise weaker at 79.56 in the interbank forex market. In the government securities market, the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond was at 7.18% for most of the day before inching up to 7.2% level towards the close. Dealers said that prospects of a sharp rate hike in the monetary policy committee meeting at the end of September have eased after GDP numbers for the first quarter came in below expectations.
“Given that April-June’s GDP growth has disappointed significantly compared to the RBI’s forecast, we will not be surprised, if the central bank decides to slow down its pace of rate hikes to 25bps (100bps = 1 percentage point) clips from September onwards,” Deutsche Bank chief economist Kaushik Das. The prices of Brent crude slipped to below $95 per barrel in the international markets on Thursday as demand slipped on the back of lower growth.
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