MUMBAI: The Indian rupee was little changed on Thursday, despite Asian peers moving higher, as U.S. dollar demand from importers and local oil companies offset a softness in the greenback.
The rupee was at 83.2350 against the U.S. dollar as of 11:30 a.m. IST after closing at 83.24 in the previous session.
The dollar index fell to 106.62, down about 0.12%. Asian currencies rose, with the Korean won leading gains.
U.S. Treasury yields eased after a relentless climb to multi-year highs earlier in the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was last quoted at 4.71%, down from 4.88%, the highest level since August 2007 hit on Wednesday.
Persistent selling from foreign investors could also mount pressure on the local unit, a foreign exchange trader at a state-run bank said.
Foreign investors snapped a six-month buying streak in September, selling over $1.77 billion worth of equities.
The rupee is likely to see “one more day of sideways trading,” said Dilip Parmar, a foreign exchange research analyst at HDFC Securities. In some ways, the rupee is caught in a “tug of war between foreign investors and the RBI,” Parmar added.
The RBI has routinely intervened to support the rupee and prevent a move towards record low. The currency hit a lifetime low of 83.29 in October 2022.
The rupee is likely to gain only modestly and continue to hold around 83.00/U.S. dollar levels over one to three months as RBI intervention is seen holding the unit in a tight range, according to a Reuters poll.
Focus now turns to the RBI’s monetary policy decision due on Friday. The central bank is widely expected to keep rates unchanged.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.