Indian government bonds have been added to Bloomberg’s Emerging Market Local Currency Government Index. This inclusion allows Indian debt to potentially become part of the larger Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index, which manages over $60 trillion in debt.
The initial weight of Fully Accessible Route (FAR) bonds will be 10% of their full market value on January 31, 2025, with incremental increases over a 10-month period, reaching full market value in October 2025. Overseas funds of at least $5 billion are expected to flow into the local market as part of passive flows due to inclusion in the Bloomberg index, following a similar move by JP Morgan five-and-a-half months ago.
Trading of meme coins has surged on Indian cryptocurrency exchanges, following a global resurgence in the crypto market marked by record highs for blue-chip currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Memecoins represented around half of the total trading value, reaching $113 million, on the top three Indian crypto exchanges in a 24-hour period.
RBI has prohibited JM Financial Products from engaging in any business related to shares and bonds funding due to regulatory violations and governance lapses.
The RBI’s directive mandates JM Financial Products to immediately cease and desist from providing financing against shares, debentures, and loans related to initial public offerings (IPOs).
Despite JM Financial Products denying material deficiencies and governance issues, the RBI highlighted serious deficiencies in the company’s loans sanctioned for IPO financing, citing perfunctory credit underwriting and financing against meagre margins.
The RBI emphasized that the company’s ability to act as both lender and borrower, using Power of Attorney without customer involvement, raises regulatory concerns and poses risks to customers’ interests.
Indian banks, facing sluggish deposit growth, have aggressively entered the bulk deposit market, causing outstanding certificates of deposit (CDs) to reach a decade-high of ₹3.81 lakh crore, as per Reserve Bank of India data.
Interest rates on CDs have surged to a maximum of 8.22%, the highest since May 2019, reflecting a resource crunch for banks.
Gold prices reached a new record high of ₹65,000 per 10 grams, rising by ₹800, fueled by strong global trends.
It closed at ₹64,200 per 10 grams in the previous session.