Rupee Cuts Short 5-Day Gaining Streak, Down By 1 Paise To 70.87 Against Dollar

Snapping its five-day winning run, the rupee on Tuesday slipped by 1 paise to close at 70.87 against the US dollar ahead of the signing of the US-China trade deal and weak macro economic data on the domestic front. The domestic currency had opened on a strong note in line with other Asian peers after the US on Monday removed the currency manipulator label it imposed on China last summer.

However, weak macro data weighed, rising crude oil prices and strengthening of the American currency in the overseas market dragged the domestic unit lower. “Higher than expected retail and wholesale inflation weighed on Indian bond as MPC may pause rate in coming meeting.

The benchmark 10 year bond yield jumped 6 bps to 6.65 per cent,” said V K Sharma, Head PCG and Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC Securities. Wholesale inflation surged to an eight-month high of 2.59 per cent in December as against 0.58 per cent in November due to sharp rise in prices of food articles.

Retail inflation jumped sharply to 7.35 per cent in December 2019, surpassing the RBI’s comfort level, mainly due to high food prices. “Rupee after rising for fifth successive session fell against the US dollar following slowing FII fund inflow,” said Gaurang Somaiyaa, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Foreign investors offloaded equities worth Rs 205 crore on net basis on Tuesday, provisional exchange data showed. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.07 per cent to 97.41. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.64 per cent to trade at USD 64.61 per barrel.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.67 per cent on Tuesday. On the domestic market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex hit life-time high of 41,994.26 in day trade. It finally settled 92.94 points or 0.22 per cent higher at 41,952.63 - its all-time closing high. The broader Nifty scaled its lifetime high (intra-day) of 12,374.25, before ending 32.75 points, or 0.27 per cent, higher at 12,362.30 -- a record closing level.

The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 70.8115 and for rupee/euro at 78.8019. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 92.2598 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 64.59.