BackRupee closes 25 paise weaker against US dollar at 66.99
The rupee weakened against the US dollar, following the local equity markets which fell over 280 points after the GST bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha
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Mumbai: The Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar, following the local equity markets which fell over 280 points after the introduction of the Constitution amendment bill to roll out the goods and services tax (GST) in the upper house of Parliament on Wednesday.
The home currency closed at 66.99 a dollar, down 0.38% from its previous close of 66.74. The rupee opened at 66.70 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 66.70 and 67.01, respectively.
With the government successfully stitching together a political consensus on the GST bill, Rajya Sabha is set to endorse the legislation to roll out the landmark tax reform that will create a common market of 1.25 billion people.
The key to forging consensus was the amendment the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) effected in the bill, a copy of which was circulated among Rajya Sabha members on Tuesday, Mint reported.
India’s benchmark Sensex index fell 1.02%, or 284.20 points, to close at 27,697.51. So far this year, it has gained 6.05%.
So far this year, the rupee is down 1.25%, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have bought $4.78 billion in equity and sold $1.06 billion in debt markets.
Meanwhile, India’s 10-year bond yield closed at 7.195%, as compared with its Tuesday’s close of 7.177%.
Asian currencies closed lower as investors pared back on emerging market assets with falling oil prices and ahead of the US non-farm payroll data.
South Korean won was down 0.66%, Malaysian ringgit 0.59%, Thai baht 0.52%, Japanese yen 0.29%, Indonesian rupiah 0.24%, Singapore dollar 0.2%, Taiwan dollar 0.15%, China offshore 0.06%, China renminbi 0.06%, Philippines peso 0.05%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 95.25, up 0.2% from its previous close of 95.064.
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