Indian rupee ends month and quarter a tad lower

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee slipped on Monday to end the month and quarter slightly lower, trailing most Asian peers amid muted portfolio inflows and weighed down by the country’s external investment deficit. The currency closed at 85.7550 against the US dollar, down 0.3% on the day and posted modest losses of 0.2% and 0.3% respectively for the month and quarter, underperforming most Asian peers amid a broad dollar downtrend.

While the Indian unit is little changed on the year so far, Asian peers such as the Taiwan dollar and Korean won have risen about nearly 13% and 8% year-to-date, respectively, while the offshore Chinese yuan, a closely tracked peer of the rupee, is up over 2%. India’s external investment deficit is among the key reasons cited by analysts behind the rupee’s underperformance.