Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Thursday weakened marginally against the US dollar, tracking losses in its Asian peers.
The rupee closed at 64.57 a dollar, down 0.08% from its Wednesday’s close of 64.52. The rupee opened at 64.52 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.49 and 64.58, respectively.
On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy committee kept the key interest rate unchanged, noting risks to inflation, but expressed optimism that the slowdown in economic growth had bottomed out. RBI also maintained its neutral policy stance, which essentially means future calls on rate direction would be data-driven and in either direction.
The benchmark Sensex rose 1.08%, or 352.03 points, to 32,949.21. So far this year, it has gained 23.45%.
The 10-year bond yield ended at 7.054%, compared to its previous close of 7.031%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
So far this year, the rupee has gained 5.28%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $8.54 billion and $22.77 billion in equity and debt, respectively.
Asian currencies were trading lower. Traders are cautious ahead of non-payroll data on Friday. Japanese yen was down 0.28%, Malaysian ringgit 0.26%, Singapore dollar 0.05%, Taiwan dollar 0.04%, Indonesian rupiah 0.04%. However, Philippines peso was up 0.14%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 93.603, down 0.02%, from its previous close of 93.61.
Source: livemint.com