Rupee trades lower at 67.02 against US dollar.

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Wednesday weakened past the 67 mark and hit a two-week low against the US dollar, tracking the losses in its Asian peers. This was the fourth consecutive session when the rupee is trading weaker.

The rupee opened at 66.99 per dollar and touched a low of 67.04, a level last seen on 1 September. At 9.13am, the home currency was trading at 67.02 per dollar, down 0.16% from its previous close of 66.92.

Asian currencies weakened as investors continued sell off in global stocks and bonds with uncertainty rising over the upcoming policy meetings by the Bank of Japan and US Federal Reserve. Bank of Japan will meet on 21 September and the Fed policy review will be held on 20-21 September.

Malaysian ringgit was down 0.62%, South Korean won 0.54%, Indonesian rupiah 0.42% and Japanese yen fell 0.38%. However, China renminbi rose 0.14%, Philippines peso 0.07% and Singapore dollar gained 0.05%.

India’s benchmark Sensex index fell 0.04% or 11.91 points to 28,341.63. So far this year, it has gained 8.9%.

Retail inflation decelerated sharply to 5.05% in August, while the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) contracted by 2.4% in July, the lowest in eight months. Together, these numbers make a case for another rate cut.

Yield on 6.97% 2026 bond, which is the new 10-year debt, was trading at 6.858% from its Monday close of 6.851%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The government will issue Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation data for August which is due later on Wednesday after 12.30pm. The median forecast from a Reuters poll of 27 economists pegs WPI inflation at 4.01% in August from 3.55% in July.

The rupee is down 1.29% till date this year, while foreign institutional investors have bought $6.40 billion in equity and sold $609.50 million in debt markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 95.582, down 0.05% from its previous close of 95.633.

Source : livemint.com​