The Indian rupee ended nearly unchanged on Friday, managing to hold its ground in the face of weakness in Asian peers and a fall in local stocks, on account of likely dollar sales by the Reserve Bank of India.
The rupee closed at 84.08 against the U.S. dollar, close to its record low and nearly unchanged from its close of 84.0775 in the previous session. The currency was little changed week-on-week.
Benchmark Indian equity indexes, the BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 declined nearly 1% each on Friday to log their fourth consecutive weekly decline amid sustained pressure due to the exodus of foreign money from local equities.
Dollar bids from foreign banks kept the rupee under pressure but state-run banks’ “presence on offer (on USD/INR)” kept the rupee in a narrow range, a trader at a foreign bank said.
The currency lingered in an under 2-paisa range through the day’s session.
Overseas investors have sold more than USD 9.5 billion from local stocks over October so far on a net basis while government bonds have witnessed an outflow of USD 750 million.
Asian currencies were down between 0.1% to 0.7% on the day while the dollar index was steady near 104.
“Donald Trump’s seemingly stronger momentum should translate to higher implied volatility and a supported dollar,” ING Bank said in a note, referring to the upcoming U.S. presidential elections in November.
While heightened odds of a Trump victory have raise the implied volatility of Asian currencies, the rupee is expected to remain subdued given the central bank’s grip on the currency, traders said.
Routine interventions by the RBI have ensured that the rupee doesn’t weaken sharply after it dropped below the psychologically important 84/USD mark earlier this month.
U.S. inflation and employment data will be in focus next week for cues on the future path of U.S. policy rates. (Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
