BackRupee closes 32 paise weaker against dollar at 65.59
The rupee opened at 65.38 per US dollar and touched a low of 65.62, a level last seen on 1 October
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Mumbai: The Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar on Monday after the local equity market fell for the sixth consecutive session.
The home currency closed at 65.59—a last level seen on 30 September, down 0.49% from its previous close of 65.27. The local unit opened at 65.38 per US dollar and touched a low of 65.62, a level last seen on 1 October.
The benchmark Sensex index fell 0.37%, or 97.68 points, to close at 26,559.15. The Sensex has lost over 900 points, or 3.5%, since 23 October.
Growth in India’s manufacturing sector cooled to its slowest in 22 months in October as domestic demand softened, a private survey showed on Monday, adding pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to usher in long-promised reforms.
The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, fell to 50.7 in October from September’s 51.2. The 50-mark divides expansion from contraction, Reuters reported.
The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond closed at 7.629% compared with its Friday’s close of 7.641%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has lost 3.9%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $4.6 billion from local equity and $8.78 billion from bond markets.
Most Asian currencies closed lower. China Offshore was down 0.4%, China Renminbi 0.32%, Singapore dollar 0.15%, Philippines peso 0.14%, while Japanese yen fell 0.1%. However, South Korean won was up 0.32% and Indonesian rupiah 0.11%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 96.813, down 0.14% from its previous close of 96.946.
China’s manufacturing sector continued weakening through October, rekindling concerns about the world’s second-largest economy. The official non-manufacturing PMI, a barometer of services and construction, fell to 53.1 from 53.4 in September, the weakest since December 2008. A separate Purchasing Managers’ Index from Caixin Media and Markit Economics was 48.3 in October, Bloomberg reported.
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