BackRupee closes weaker against US dollar
The rupee closed at 64.60 a dollar, down 0.11% from its Wednesday's close of 64.52
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Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Thursday closed weaker against the US dollar after local equity markets erased all the gains.
The rupee closed at 64.60 a dollar, down 0.11% from its Wednesday’s close of 64.52. The rupee opened at 64.62 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.45 and 64.59 respectively.
Local equity markets gained as much as 0.76% or 239.23 points in the morning trade. However, it erased all the gains and closed little changed after National Association of Software and Services Companies or Nasscom has projected that the revenue growth for India’s software services industry likely to grew slower due to technology changes and political uncertainty.
The benchmark Sensex index rose 0.02% or 7.10 points to closed at 31,290.74. So far this year, it has risen 17.5%.
The 10-year bond yield closed at 6.459% compared to its previous close of 6.428%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
At its 7 June meeting, RBI’s one monetary policy committee (MPC) member had suggested a cut in the policy rate by 50 basis points citing reasons such as easing inflation expectations and low capacity utilization, Mint reported.
He was outvoted by the other five members who chose to leave the rate unchanged. However, the tone of the other members turned less hawkish as they indicated that they would prefer to wait and watch if inflation, which has eased below target, will stay the course, Mint report added.
So far this year, the rupee has gained 5%, while foreign investors bought $8.16 billion and $13.86 billion in local equity and debt markets, respectively.
Asian currencies were trading higher as oil’s rout shows signs of easing, improving risk sentiment and helping a rebound in a gauge of regional stock.
Japanese yen was up 0.27%, South Korean won 0.21%, Thai baht 0.12%, Taiwan dollar 0.13%, Malaysian ringgit 0.04%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 97.496, down 0.07% from its previous close of 97.559.
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