MUMBAI, June 6 (Reuters) – The Indian rupee weakened on Thursday despite broad gains in Asian currencies, which were pushed higher by improved odds of the Federal Reserve cutting policy rates later this year.
The rupee was at 83.43 against the U.S. dollar as of 09:35 a.m. IST, down from its close at 83.37 in the previous session.
Traders expect the central bank to continue acting against sharp declines in the rupee but sustained equity related outflows may keep up pressure on the currency.
“With RBI firmly in saddle … the range for now looks to be broadly between 83 to 83.50,” Anil Bhansali, head of treasury at Finrex Treasury Advisors said.
The dollar index fell 0.1% to 104.1 and most Asian currencies gained.
Expectations that the central bank will intervene to cap rupee weakness is also likely to spur “natural offers (to sell dollars),” near 83.50, a foreign exchange trader at private bank said.
Investors now await the RBI’s monetary policy decision and the closely watched U.S. non-farm payrolls report, both due on Friday.
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Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee
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