| Date: |
13-04-2016 |
| Subject: |
Rupee opens higher at 66.34 against US dollar |
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Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Wednesday strengthened against the US dollar on improved macroeconomic data and above normal rains predictions by the weather department. This was the fourth consecutive session when the rupee is trading higher.
The rupee opened at 66.34 a dollar. At 9.10am, the home currency was trading at 66.33, up 0.15% from its previous close of 66.43.
After three consecutive months of contraction, factory output grew 2% in February due to strong performance by the mining and electricity sectors, while retail inflation slowed to 4.83% from 5.26% a month ago as rise in food cost, fuel prices and transport cost slowed.
India’s official weather forecasting agency, India Meteorological Department, has said the monsoon is likely to be “above normal” and likely to be 106% of the average of 89 cm.
India’s benchmark Sensex rose 0.85% or 212.83 points to 25,358.42. So far this year, Sensex fell 3.3%.
India’s 10-year bond yield was trading at 7.403% as compared with its Tuesday’s close of 7.416%.
So far this year, the rupee weakened 0.25%, while foreign institutional investors bought $1.08 billion from local equity and sold $558.70 million in debt markets.
Asian currencies were trading higher. Malaysian ringgit was up 0.5%, South Korean won 0.29%, Philippines peso 0.23%, Indonesian rupiah 0.16%, Thai baht 0.13% and Taiwan dollar rose 0.1%. However, Japanese yen was down 0.3% and Singapore dollar 0.22%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.153, up 0.20% from its previous close of 93.959.
The markets will remain closed on Thursday on account of Ambedkar Jayanti and on Friday on account of Ram Navmi.
Source : livemint.com
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