BackRupee closes 11 paise weaker against dollar at 63.68
The partially convertible rupee opened at 63.64 a dollar and touched a low of 63.71 intra-day
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Mumbai: The Indian rupee weakened on Monday, following other Asian currencies, still weighed down by the dollar rally last week on improved US economic data. Thin volume in the year-end also induced volatility in the exchange rate.
The local currency opened at 63.64 a dollar and touched a low of 63.72 intra-day. The rupee closed at 63.68 a dollar, down 0.17% from its previous close of 63.57. This is the fourth consecutive day that the rupee ended down.
On Monthly basis (In December) the rupee fell 2.6% while the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold $214.44 million. The rupee decline and FII selling are the sharpest in the month since August 2013.
Most of the Asian currencies ended lower against the dollar. The Indonesian rupiah was down 0.26%, China offshore 0.26%, Malaysian ringgit 0.19%, China renminbi 0.19%, Thai baht 0.16%, Japanese Yen 0.1% and Taiwan dollar 0.06%.
Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has weakened 2.96% against the dollar, while foreign institutional investors have bought $15.99 billion from local equity markets and $26.38 billion from the debt market.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 89.97, down 0.06% from its previous close of 90.03.
Data available with the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed foreign investors sold their equity holdings in the last 12 sessions. Between 9 December and 24 December, foreign investors sold equities worth $1.36 billion, according to Sebi data.
India’s benchmark equity index, S&P BSE Sensex, ended at 27,395.73 points, up 0.57%.
The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond ended at 7.929% compared with its Friday’s close of 7.981%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
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