Rupee weakens marginally as finance minister starts budget speech
The Indian currency had opened at 68.58 a dollarThe 10-year bond yield was at 6.753% compared with Thursday's close of 6.748%
Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Friday was trading marginally weak against the US dollar on Friday as Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman starts budget speech.
At 11.05 am, the rupee traded at 68.57 a dollar, down 0.10% from its previous close of 68.51. The Indian currency had opened at 68.58 a dollar.
The 10-year bond yield was at 6.753% compared with Thursday's close of 6.748%. Bond yields and prices moves in opposite direction.
Sitharaman presenting her maiden budget today, at a time when the Indian economy has been showing signs of slowing down along with tepid tax collections. Consumer demand that has been the only engine driving the economy so far also looks vulnerable now.
Traders keenly await the fiscal deficit and borrowing targets with hope that the government intends to stick to its targets in the budget.
According to a Bloomberg survey, the government will widen the budget deficit target to 3.5% of GDP at upcoming budget, up from a February estimate of 3.4%.
On Thursday, chief economic adviser in the finance ministry said the government will keep its fiscal deficit under control as it sees a rebound in economic growth from a five-year low. The Economic Survey 2018-19 said growth will probably reach 7% in the current fiscal that began April 1. The government will seek to avoid undermining private investment by widening the fiscal deficit, Krishnamurthy Subramanian, author of the Survey and the chief economic adviser, told reporters Thursday
In pre-trade, the benchmark equity index Sensex was up 0.12% at 39,888.13 points. Year to date, the index has risen 10.65%.
So far this year, the rupee has risen 1.8% against the greenback. During the period, foreign investors bought $10.80 billion in Indian equities and $1.58 billion in the debt market.
Other Asian currencies were also subdued as markets await the US non-farm payrolls and wage growth data due later on Friday as well as the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s semiannual testimony next week for more clues on policy outlook.
(Bloomberg contributed to this story)
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