The rupee fell sharply against the dollar on Wednesday, ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting, as investors remained cautious and awaited Fed chairman Jerome Powell’s guidance for near-term direction.
According to PTI, the Indian rupee fell 12 paise to close at 79.90 against the US dollar.
According to PTI, the local currency opened at 79.83 and ended at 79.91 in the interbank foreign exchange market, down 13 paise from its previous close of 79.78 against the American currency.
According to Bloomberg, the rupee was last changing hands at 79.9000 per dollar, after trading in the range of 79.8187 to 79.9125 during the session, down about 13 paise from Tuesday’s close of 79.7667.
According to the most recent exchange data, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday, selling shares worth 1,548.29 crore.
This is despite the dollar falling further from its recent 20-year highs ahead of the Fed policy meeting, where the bank is expected to raise rates by 75 basis points to rein in spiraling inflation.
Currency markets, however, were relatively quiet as traders awaited the policy announcement at 1800 GMT.
The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points (bps), with an increase of up to 100 bps possible. Traders expect the Fed to raise the rate to 3.4 percent by the end of the year in an effort to get inflation back on track.
With the dollar already up 2.3 percent in July, bets on excessive rate hikes helped lift the dollar index to 109.29 earlier this month, its highest level in nearly 20 years.
Source:ndtv