The Indian rupee on Monday hit a one-month high against the US dollar tracking gains in Asian peers amid optimism that the phase one trade deal between the US and China will be signed this week.

In early deals today, the rupee traded at 70.84 a dollar, up from Friday's close of 70.94. The Indian unit had opened and touched a high of 70.79 -- a level last seen on 16 December. This was the fifth consecutive session when the currency traded higher.

Traders will await domestic consumer price inflation data for December, due at 5.30pm. According to Bloomberg estimates, CPI is seen rising to 6.7% in December from 5.54% a month ago.

The yield on the 10-year government bond was at 6.585% compared with its previous close of 6.588%. Bond yield and prices moves in opposite directions.

Year to date, the rupee has strengthened 0.75%, while foreign investors have bought nearly $270.50 million in Indian equities and sold $900.20 million in debt.

In pre-opening trade, the benchmark Sensex index was up 0.4% or 180.99 points at 41780.71 points. Year to date, the index has gained 1.2%.

Weaker-than-expected US non-farm payroll data weighed on the dollar, pushing Asian currencies higher. The Indonesian rupiah was up 0.68%, South Korean won 0.65%, Philippines peso 0.5%, Taiwan dollar 0.34%, China Renminbi 0.3%, Malaysian ringgit 0.30%, Thai Baht 0.30%, China Offshore 0.25%, Singapore dollar 0.17%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against a basket of major currencies, was at 97.363 compared with previous close of 97.356.

(Bloomberg contributed this story)

Published On : 13-01-2020

Source : Live Mint