The Indian rupee opened 10 paise higher against the US dollar on Monday as the greenback retreated from a three-month high after the comments from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole. The local currency opened at 82.55 a dollar as compared to Friday’s close of 82.65.
The dollar eased from a 12-week peak as traders weighed the US monetary path after the Fed Chair Jerome Powell left open the possibility of further interest rate increases, while the yen hovered close to its lowest in over nine months, Reuters reported.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six rivals, eased 0.115% to 104.05, but not far from the 12 week high of 104.44 it touched on Friday.
Powell said that the Fed was prepared to raise rates further if appropriate, and intended to hold policy at a restrictive level until it was confident that inflation was moving sustainably down toward its objective.
“We will proceed carefully as we decide whether to tighten further or, instead, to hold the policy rate constant and await further data,” Powell said in his speech.
On Friday, the rupee ended at 82.65 a dollar. The rupee notched its best week in a month-and-a-half as it rose more than 0.5% for the week, logging its best weekly performance since July 14.
Investors will now focus on key US data, with core PCE inflation, non-farm payrolls and ISM manufacturing all due this week.
Meanwhile, the yen weakened 0.03% to 146.45 per dollar, the euro was up 0.04% to $1.0804, while the pound was last at $1.2599, up 0.17%. The Australian dollar rose 0.55% to $0.644, while the New Zealand dollar gained 0.32% versus greenback to $0.592, Reuters reported.
Crude oil prices eased, supporting the rupee. Brent crude futures fell 0.09% to $84.40 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) eased 0.08% to $79.77 a barrel.
On the domestic front, the Indian equity indices, Sensex and Nifty were trading higher in the pre-opening session.
On Friday, the Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold Indian shares worth ₹4,638.21 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) net purchased shares to the tune of ₹1,414.35 crore, as per provisional data available on the exchanges.
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Updated: 28 Aug 2023, 09:11 AM IST