Nilesh Shah praises RBI's bold rate cut, says even Trump may urge Fed to follow
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) surprised markets with a significant 50 basis point repo rate cut to 5.50% and a 100 basis point CRR reduction. Nilesh Shah believes this bold move will positively impact bond and equity markets, even suggesting the U.S. Federal Reserve might follow suit.
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Here is how some other experts decode the rate cut by RBI for the mutual fund investors:
Adhil Shetty, CEO of Bankbazaar.com
Marzban Irani, CIO of Fixed Income at LIC Mutual Fund
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Vishal Goenka, Co-Founder of IndiaBonds.com
Sandeep Bagla, CEO, TRUST MutualFund
After the Reserve Bank of India slashed the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.50% and announced a 100 basis point cut in the Cash Reserve Ratio ( CRR ), Nilesh Shah of Kotak Mutual Fund praised the bold move. He even remarked that President Trump might urge the U.S. Federal Reserve to follow the RBI 's lead.On the social media platform X, Shah wrote: 'The RBI, after a cautious start, shifted gears for big hits. A jumbo repo rate cut of 50 bps and a CRR cut of 100 bps is well ahead of market expectations. Both bond and equity markets will likely react positively to this front-loading, which should outweigh concerns around the shift in. President Trump may request US Fed to follow the RBI'According to Shah, the RBI delivered a strong and unexpected stimulus to the markets with a jumbo 50 basis points cut in the repo rate and a 100 basis points reduction in the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR). These moves, he noted, went way ahead of market expectations and reflected the central bank's approach in addressing economic concerns.He added that both the bond and equity markets are likely to respond positively to this front-loaded strategy and will overcome the prudent measure of change in stance.The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday in its bi-monthly monetary policy review meeting has decided to reduce the policy rate by 50 basis points to 5.5%.This is the third consecutive rate cut by RBI in the current calendar year and the second one in the current financial year. This marks the third consecutive cut under Governor Malhotra.The RBI's bold 50 basis points repo rate cut, bringing it down to 5.5%, marks a significant shift in monetary policy. With inflation now under control and liquidity set to improve further due to the phased CRR cut, we expect bond yields to soften. This is a positive signal for debt mutual funds , particularly long-duration and gilt funds, as falling interest rates tend to push up bond prices, boosting returns.Equity mutual funds, especially those focused on rate-sensitive sectors like banking, auto, and real estate, may benefit from the improved outlook. For investors, this is a good opportunity to rebalance portfolios in line with the evolving interest rate cycle. While equity markets may remain volatile in the short term, the overall policy direction supports a constructive view on both debt and equity mutual funds in the coming quarters.RBI has reiterated that it is committed to ensure price stability and is focused on supporting growth. Any further policy decisions will continue to remain data dependent. Recommended to invest in tenure ranging 3 month to 3 year schemes to take advantage of CRR cut.Investors should look at 2-3y corporate bonds for their portfolio as they continue to offer good spreads over government and FD rates and interest rates will come down more gradually for corporate bondsMPC frontloaded the rate cuts, reducing repo rates by 50 bps and also cut CRR by 100 bps. These measures came as a positive surprise to equity markets as there will be greater impetus to growth and there could be faster pick up in the interest rate sectors.
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