MUMBAI: The Indian rupee on Thursday touched its highest against the US currency in more than seven weeks, helped by a weaker dollar and a positive near-term trend. The rupee was at 81.6650 per US dollar by 10:48 a.m. IST, up from 81.7650 the previous day.
The local currency has reached 81.65, the highest level since Mar 6.
Most Asian currencies were higher on the day, tracking overnight losses on the dollar index. With dollar on the back foot again, traders were back to following what seems to be a broadly convincing downtrend (for USD/INR), a trader said.
USD/INR has multiple support levels in the 81.40-81.60 range and dollar shorts will need to be patient, he said. The dollar index inched lower in Asia to 101.36, having slipped 0.4% overnight.
Expectations that growth concerns will prompt the US Federal Reserve to pause after next week’s rate hike is impacting demand for the dollar.
The dollar gauge earlier this month had dropped to its lowest level in a year.
US data due later in the day will help investors gauge how the economy is faring and how the labour market is holding up.
Indian rupee looks to rise further on back of dollar weakness
The quarter US gross domestic product data and weekly jobless claims are due.
A Reuters poll forecasts growth at 2%. US debt ceiling concerns may be among the drivers for the weaker dollar, ING suggested.
While the US House of Representatives on Wednesday narrowly passed a bill to raise the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling that includes sweeping spending cuts over the next decade, it is unlikely to pass the Senate.
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