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Business News/ Market / Stock-market-news/  Rupee closes little changed against US dollar
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Rupee closes little changed against US dollar

The rupee closed at 66.96 per dollar, up 0.01% from its previous close of 66.96

The rupee is down 1.24% till date this year, while foreign institutional investors have bought $6.11 billion in equity and sold $1.33 billion in debt markets. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/ MintPremium
The rupee is down 1.24% till date this year, while foreign institutional investors have bought $6.11 billion in equity and sold $1.33 billion in debt markets
. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/ Mint

Mumbai: The rupee on Thursday closed little changed against the US dollar, ahead of US payroll data to be released on Friday.

The rupee closed at 66.96 per dollar, up 0.01% from its previous close of 66.96. The currency opened at 67.05 per dollar and touched a high and a low of 66.94 and 67.07, respectively.

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) forward dollar positions for deals maturing within one year were net short $2.85 billion as of end July, falling by almost half from net short $5.26 billion a month earlier, according to data from the central bank.

Data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.1% in the first quarter of the fiscal year against 7.9% in the preceding three months, the fourth quarter of 2015-16. Another measure of economic activity—gross value added—showed the economy growing at 7.3% in the June quarter, higher than the GDP growth rate.

India’s fiscal deficit during April-July was 3.93 trillion, or 73.7% of the budgeted target for the fiscal year ending in March 2017, government data showed on Wednesday. The deficit was 69.3% during the same period a year ago.

Traders are also cautious as foreign currency non-resident (FCNR) deposits come up for redemption starting September. In September 2013, when the rupee was under pressure, banks raised $25 billion through FCNR deposits and another $9 billion through foreign currency borrowings and swapped the same with RBI. It is this $25 billion chunk, most of which was linked to borrowed funds, that will be due between September and November.

India’s benchmark Sensex index fell 28.69 points, or 0.10%, to close at 28,423.48. So far this year, it has gained 8.83%.

The 10-year bond yield closed at 7.121%, compared with its Wednesday’s close of 7.109%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The rupee is down 1.24% till date this year, while foreign institutional investors have bought $6.11 billion in equity and sold $1.33 billion in debt markets.

Asian currencies closed lower as investors waited to see if upcoming job data could prod the US Federal Reserve into raising interest rates as soon as September.

The South Korean won was down 0.65%, Philippines peso 0.39%, Malaysian ringgit 0.29%, Japanese yen 0.25% and Singapore dollar 0.07%. However, the Taiwanese dollar rose 0.06%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 96.011, down 0.01% from its previous close of 96.022.

Friday’s US jobs report is expected to show that employers added 180,000 jobs in August, according to the median estimate of 89 economists polled by Reuters.

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Published: 01 Sep 2016, 09:40 AM IST
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