BackRupee closes weaker against US dollar at 63.58; RBI intervention seen
Rupee weakened marginally against the US dollar, despite a fall in international crude oil prices and gains in local equity and Asian currencies markets
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Mumbai: Indian rupee on Wednesday closed marginally lower against the dollar, despite a fall in international crude oil prices and gains in local equity and Asian currencies markets.
The home currency closed at 63.58, down 0.04% from its previous close of 63.55. The local unit opened at 63.59 per dollar.
“Considering the way crude prices are falling, rupee should have been below 63 level. But it seems that the RBI is intervening and not allowing the currency to gain too much since exports have deteriorated in the last few months," said Pramit Brahmbhatt, chief executive officer, Veracity Financial Services Pvt. Ltd.
In July, Brent Crude has fallen 12.04% to $56.42 per barrel. India’s merchandise exports, equivalent to about a fifth of India’s $2 trillion economy, have shown increasing weakness in recent months, Reuters had reported on 15 July. In June, they contracted 15.82% year-on-year to $22.29 billion, the report said, quoting government data.
The Sensex closed at 28,504.93, up 1.15% or 322.79 points.
Brent Crude was trading at $56.65 a barrel, down 0.68% from its previous close.
Most Asian currencies closed higher. South Korean won was up 0.41%, Malaysian ringgit 0.2%, Japanese yen 0.10%, while Philippines peso added 0.08%. However, Thai baht was down 0.64%, while Singapore dollar declined 0.04%.
The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond closed at 7.828% compared with its Tuesday’s close of 7.837%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has lost 0.8%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $7.31 billion from local equity and $6.64 billion from bond markets.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 97.337, up 0.03% from its previous close of 97.328.
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