Finance
Following much of the session in a narrow range, the Indian rupee finished Thursday barely changed as dollar demand from foreign banks countered positive signals from a small uptick in its Asian counterparts. With respect to the US dollar, the rupee ended the day at 83.1225, hardly moving from its finish of 83.1375 the day before.
While the rupee logged some gains early in the session, it largely oscillated between 83.13 and 83.15.”Until the rupee’s trading range breaks decisively, it’s likely to keep reverting back to these levels,” Gaurang Somaiya, an FX research analyst at Motilal Oswal Financial Services said, referring to the rupee’s gradual decline below the 83 handle after rising to an over fourth-month peak of 82.77 on Monday.Dollar bids from foreign banks, likely on behalf of custodian clients, pressured the rupee, although the bids were milder than on Wednesday, a foreign exchange trader at a private bank said.
The benchmark BSE Sensex and Nifty 50, which measure Indian market indices, closed the day lower by 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively, after recording their biggest daily decline since June 2022 on Wednesday.The offshore Chinese yuan increased by 0.1%, while the majority of Asian currencies increased marginally, with the Korean won rising by about 0.4%.After reaching its highest point in more than a month on Wednesday due to strong U.S. economic statistics that caused traders to reduce their bets on rapid rate reduction by the Federal Reserve, the dollar index last quoted down at 103.24.
The focus now shifts to the United States’ initial unemployment claims data and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic’s comments later in the day, which could provide hints about policy rates.
Source:FE
