BackRupee closes at one-week low against dollar
The rupee closed at 66.89 per US dollar, down 0.12% from its previous close of 66.81
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Mumbai: The rupee on Friday closed at a one-week low against the US dollar after foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to sell in local equities and debt markets. This was the second consecutive session when the rupee closed lower. A fall in Asian currencies also dampened sentiment.
The rupee closed at 66.89 per US dollar—a level last seen on 13 October, down 0.12% from its previous close of 66.81. The home currency opened at 66.91 and touched a low of 66.94 a dollar, a level last seen on 13 October. So far this year, it has fallen 1.2%.
From 3-19 October (in the last 11 consecutive sessions), FIIs sold $1.19 billion in debt, while in the last six trading sessions they sold $361.85 million in equity markets.
Most Asian currencies closed lower as the dollar climbed to a seven-month high against a basket of currencies.The greenback was boosted by a fall in the euro after the European Central Bank shot down talk that it was contemplating tapering its monetary easing.
The South Korean won was down 0.66%, Philippines peso 0.46%, Taiwanese dollar 0.43%, Chinese offshore 0.38%, Thai baht 0.34%, Chinese renminbi 0.28%, Indonesian rupiah 0.26% and Singapore dollar 0.12%. However, the Japanese yen was up 0.19% and Malaysian ringgit 0.06%.
India’s benchmark Sensex closed at 28,077.18 points, down 52.66 points, or 0.19%, from its previous close. So far this year, it has gained 7.2%.
So far this year, FIIs have sold $929.30 million in debt and bought $7.40 billion in equity.
The benchmark 10-year government bond yield closed at 6.761% compared with Thursday’s close of 6.76%.Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 98.532, up 0.23% from its previous close of 98.315.
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