Rupee ended slightly lower, Dollar fell vs. major currencies

Friday,   03-May-2024   04:02 PM (IST)

The Indian rupee ended the session slightly lower at 83.4225/4325 levels compared to its opening at 83.39/40 levels after touching the low of 83.4425/4525 levels on dollar demand from state-run banks. Rupee traded in the range of 83.3475-83.4425 level today. Rupee had opened higher today aided by a rise in its Asian peers. Asian currencies climbed on a dip in U.S. bond yields, with the Korean won, up 0.9%, leading gains. Dollar-rupee forward premiums shed gains after rising marginally early on Friday. The 1-year implied yield last quoted flat at 1.65%. Indian government bond yields were down as traders await fresh cues. Indian equities took a sharp U-turn mid-day ending deep in the red amid broad-based selling. The S&P BSE Sensex shed 732.96 points, or 0.98%, to end at 73,878.15. The Nifty50 closed at 22,475.85, down 172.35 points or 0.76%. In the forward segment 1mth, 3mth and 6mth annualized premia ended the day at 1.17%, 1.25% and 1.37% respectively.

The yen was headed for its biggest weekly gain in 16 months on Friday, helped by Japan's suspected intervention this week to pull the currency away from 34-year lows, while the dollar index fell to a three-week low ahead of U.S. jobs data. The yen rose to a three-week high of 152.75 per dollar during Asian trade and was set to clock a weekly gain of 3.19%, its largest since January 2023. It was last 0.26% higher on the day at 153.25 per dollar. Traders were left on tenterhooks for any further huge swings in the yen after Tokyo was suspected to have intervened to support its currency this week, on Monday and on Wednesday, to the tune of some 9.16 trillion yen ($59.8 billion), as suggested by data from Bank of Japan. The Fed held interest rates steady, as expected, at the conclusion of its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday. Traders are now looking to U.S. nonfarm payrolls data due later on Friday, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that interest rates might have to remain elevated for longer but shot down talk of raising them again. The dollar index, measuring the currency against six peers including the surging yen, edged 0.08% lower to 105.22 after hitting its lowest since April 11. It was headed for its biggest weekly fall in almost two months, down 0.8% this week. Elsewhere, the euro ticked 0.18% higher to$1.0740, and was eyeing a weekly gain of nearly 0.46%, its largest since March. Sterling rose 0.15% to $1.2558 and was similarly set for its biggest weekly gain in two months, rising 0.46% this week.