Rupee trades lower at 66.73 per dollar on losses in Asian peers.

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Monday was trading marginally lower against the US dollar, tracking the losses in its Asian peers.

The home currency opened at 66.75 against the US dollar. At 9.15am, the rupee was trading at 66.73 a dollar, down 0.03% from its previous close of 66.75. So far this year, it fell 0.9%.

Asian currencies were trading lower as traders turned cautious ahead of the US president election on Tuesday. Japanese yen was down 1.07%, Singapore dollar 0.35%, China renminbi 0.27%, Indonesian rupiah 0.25%, Malaysian ringgit 0.23%, Thai baht 0.21%, China offshore 0.18% and Philippines peso 0.16%. However, South Korean won was up 0.15%.

India’s benchmark Sensex index was trading at 27,552.27 points, up 1.02% or 278.12 points from its previous close. So far this year, it has gained 6.2%.

The benchmark 10-year government bond yield was trading at 6.843% compared to Friday’s close of 6.841%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have sold $719.80 million in debt and bought $6.67 billion in equity till date this year.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 97.458, up 0.41% from its previous close of 97.065.

On Friday, jobs in the US grew by 161,000 last month, while economists polled by Reuters expected an increase of 175,000. The unemployment rate stood at 4.9%—in line with expectations—as investors got to digest the final payrolls report before Tuesday’s presidential election.

Source : livemint.com