Rupee opens higher at 61.02 per dollar - Livemint

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has gained 1.27%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $14.14 billion from local equity markets. Photo: Mint

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Tuesday strengthen in the morning trade against the dollar, tracking gains in the Asian currencies market and ahead of Fed meeting.

US Federal Reserve meeting due on 16-17 September. Forex dealers expect early hike in interest rates by Fed after improving economy, which might induce foreign funds to withdraw money from emerging markets, including India.

The local unit opened at 61.02 per dollar. At 9.10am, the home currency was trading at 61.02, up 0.2% from previous close of 61.15, while India’s equity benchmark Sensex index was trading at 26,900.73 points on BSE, up 0.34%.

Most of the Asian currencies were trading higher. The Indonesian rupiah was trading up 0.37%, South Korean won was up 0.27%, Philippines peso rose 0.16%, China offshore jumped 0.14%, Singapore dollar up 0.07%, Malaysian ringgit rose 0.07%, Japanese yen soared 0.07%.

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 8.505%, compared with its Monday’s close of 8.506%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has gained 1.27%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $14.14 billion from local equity markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 84.192, down 0.09% from the previous close of 84.264.

India’s trade deficit widened to $10.8 billion in August, wider than $10.7 billion a year earlier, with exports rising 2.4% and imports growing 2.1%. Gold shipments surged to $2 billion from $739 million in August last year after the government allowed more banks and traders to buy bullion overseas.