Finance
The Indian rupee ended little changed on Thursday after lingering in a tight range through much of the session with traders anticipating fresh signs for directional movement.The rupee scarcely moved from its previous level of 83.1225 to conclude at 83.1150 vs the US dollar. The local unit experienced a 0.06% weekly loss.Due to a local holiday, Indian marketplaces are closed on Friday.
The majority of Asian currencies fell as the dollar index dipped to 103.16, with the Indonesian rupiah declining by 0.7% to lead losses. According to Dilip Parmar, a foreign exchange research analyst at HDFC Securities, the overall trend of the rupee appears to indicate sideways motion with a small downward tendency.
While the rupee had rallied sharply to 82.77 earlier this month, it has since shed much of its gains, pressured by equity outflows and a broad pickup in the dollar strength, amid paring of aggressive U.S. rate cut expectations.Another move above 83 in the near-term seems unlikely but the downside is well capped near 83.30-83.35 as well, a foreign exchange trader at a private bank said.Investors are currently pricing in a 56% chance of the U.S Federal Reserve keeping rates unchanged in March, up from about 44% a week earlier, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
“We continue to see a very mixed investment environment and one in which conviction views can be dangerous,” ING Bank said in a note.Investors will keep an eye on U.S. GDP data for the October-December quarter due later in the day which is expected to show 2% year-on-year growth, down from 4.9% in the previous quarter, according to a Reuters poll.The GDP data will be followed by personal consumption expenditure inflation data, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, on Friday.
Source:FE
