India bond yields spike, rupee falls after central bank meeting minutes

File photo: An Indian Navy officer walks past the emblem of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at RBI head office in Mumbai.

File photo: An Indian Navy officer walks past the emblem of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at RBI head office in Mumbai.   | Photo Credit: PTI

Indian bond yields spiked while the rupee dropped to its lowest in more than a year on Friday after the minutes of the monetary policy panel meeting suggested that they were likely to take a more hawkish tone starting as early as June.

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) MPC members flagged several concerns, including an increase in minimum support prices for farmers and high and volatile crude oil prices, the minutes released post market hours on Thursday showed.

By 0344 GMT, the Indian rupee was at 66.02 per dollar versus its previous close of 65.7950. The rupee touched 66.08 in early deals, its weakest level since March 14, 2017.

The benchmark 10-year bond yield was up 17 basis points at 7.80%.