BackRupee drops 30 paise against dollar
The rupee opened at 60.31 per dollar against its Thursday's close of 60.29
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Mumbai: The Indian rupee weakened 0.5% against the US currency on Monday on dollar demand from importers and tracking the general weakness seen in the Asian currency markets.
Speculation that dollar demand will increase from importers planning to meet month-end payments too weighed on the currency, some dealers said.
“There was some dollar demand from importers towards the end of the trade," said Sandip Kumar, a senior dealer at FirstRand Bank Ltd. Kumar said financial markets remain optimistic about a revival in investor confidence post elections that is supporting the currency.
The rupee closed at 60.59. The unit opened at 60.31 against its Thursday’s close of 60.29.
“The rupee is under pressure as oil and defence importers will demand the greenback to pay month-end bills," said Amogh Moghe, a Mumbai-based currency trader at Mecklai and Mecklai. “Rising reserves will cap big losses in the currency."
Most Asian currencies fell. The Malaysian ringgit weakened 0.29%, the Thai baht shed 0.23%, the Indonesian rupiah declined 0.19%, the South Korean won slipped 0.14% and the Taiwan dollar slid 0.12%.
BSE’s benchmark Sensex rose 0.6% to 22,764.83 points, while the National Stock Exchange’s Nifty index advanced 0.56% to 6,817.65 points. Both the indices closed at new all-time highs.
The rupee has strengthened 1.99% this year as foreign portfolio investors bought $4.74 billion of local equities during the period.
The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond ended at 8.863%, compared with its Thursday’s close of 8.853%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 79.856, up 0.01% from the previous close of 79.847.
Bloomberg contributed to this story.
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