The Indian rupee on Thursday strengthened marginally for third sessions against US dollar in the opening trade.

At 9.15 am, the rupee traded at 70.28 a dollar, up 0.10% from its previous close of 70.34. The Indian currency opened at 70.24 a dollar.

Traders are cautious ahead of exit poll results due on 19 May and final results on 23 May. Meanwhile, India's trade deficit widened to a five month to $15.30 billion in April from $10.9 billion a month ago and $13.7 billion a year ago. The deficit is wider than the $13.5 billion median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 21 economists.

Exports rose 0.6% from a year ago to $26.1 billion, compared with a 11% gain in March. Imports rose 4.5% to $41.4 billion, against a 1.4% increase in the previous month

The benchmark Sensex index rose 0.12% to 37158.76 points. Year to date, the index has risen 3%.

The 10-year bond yield was at 7.395% compared with Wednesday's close of 7.38%.

So far this year, the rupee has declined 0.8% against the US greenback. During the period, foreign investors bought $9.50 billion in Indian equities and sold $760.70 million in debt market.

Asian currencies were trading mixed amid US-China trade tensions. Japanese yen was up 0.07%, Malaysian ringgit 0.07%, Indonesian rupiah 0.06%. However, China Offshore was down 0.08%, Philippines peso 0.05%, Taiwan dollar 0.04%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against a basket of major currencies, was at 97.534, down 0.04% from its previous close of 97.569.

Published On : 15-05-2019

Source : Live Mint