The Indian rupee on Thursday opened marginally weaker against the US dollar, in line with its Asian peers as the greenback held near a nine-month high.

At 9.12 am, the rupee was at 72.01 a dollar, down 0.37% from its previous close of 71.77. The domestic currency opened at 71.92 and touched a low of 72.05.

"Briefly, the global turmoil has led to increase in the investors’ risk sentiment and worries that could tip the world in to an economic slowdown. Therefore, positive reforms taken by the Indian government shall be overshadowed by rising global uncertainties capping the gains in the rupee," said CR Forex Advisers in a morning note. The brokerage firm expects the rupee to swing in the range of 71.20-72.20 over the next few trading sessions.

Government bond prices rose with traders awaiting the gross domestic product (GDP) data, due on Friday, to gauge chances of further monetary policy easing by the Reserve Bank of India.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.57% compared with its previous close of 6.53%.

India’s GDP growth is likely to have eased further to 5.7% in the June-quarter from a five-year low of 5.8% in the previous quarter, according to a Bloomberg survey

In pre-trade, the benchmark equity index Sensex was up 0.02% at 37461.03 points. So far this year, the index has risen 3.84%.

In the year so far, foreign investors have bought nearly $7.39 billion in Indian equities and $4.05 billion in debt.

Most emerging Asian currencies were trading lower on the back of overnight strength in the dollar, which climbed to the year’s high. Malaysian ringgit was the biggest loser, falling 0.26%, while South Korean won was down 0.14%, China Offshore declined 0.06%, and Taiwan dollar lost 0.05%. However, Japanese yen was up 0.24%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against a basket of major currencies, was at 98.197, up 0.01% from its previous close of 98.21.

Published On : 29-08-2019

Source : Live Mint