MUMBAI: The Indian rupee lingered near its all-time low on Thursday as likely intervention by the Reserve Bank of India helped stave off ongoing pressure on the South Asian currency.
The rupee closed at 88.7825 against the US dollar, nearly flat on the day, but within touching distance of its lifetime low of 88.80 hit last week.
Persistent dollar sales by state-run banks, most likely on behalf of the RBI, have supported the currency over recent sessions, traders said.
The RBI “is quite strongly defending 88.80 and until that eases, expect such price action to continue,” a trader at a foreign bank said.
Worries over the economic hit from steep US trade tariffs and tighter immigration policies have kept up pressure on the currency, with foreign investors pulling out a net of nearly USD600 million from local stocks in October so far, pushing year-to-date outflows to over USD18 billion.
Meanwhile, likely inflows related to a big-ticket initial public offering helped boost the dollar-rupee overnight swap rate, with traders citing sell-buy swaps from at least two large foreign banks.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.