Rupee opened flat, Dollar steady vs. major currencies

Thursday,   22-Jun-2017   09:05 AM (IST)

The Indian rupee opened the day almost flat at 64.53/54 levels compared to its previous close at 64.52/53 levels even as oil prices overnight fell to their lowest in 10-months. Indian government bonds turn lower on profit booking even as minutes of Monetary Policy Committee’s June meeting boost expectation of rate cuts going ahead, price action muted as market has already factored in 25 bps rate cut. The benchmark indices opened higher tracking positive trend seen in Asian markets after oil prices climbed from their 10-month lows, while investors also took cues from the minutes of Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s June policy meeting. At 9:17 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 31,391, up 107 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,662, up 29 points. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices gained 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. As per the technical indicators range for the USDINR pair may be 64.35- 64.75 levels. Rupee has an immediate support at 64.61 levels. A breach of the same may see rupee at 64.71 followed by 64.80 levels. On the positive side rupee is likely to face resistance at 64.44 levels and if it is able to break the same then it may gain up to 64.36 levels followed by 64.28 levels.

The dollar held steady below a one-month high against a basket of currencies on Thursday, consolidating recent gains tied to bets the U.S. central bank could increase rates once more later this year. The New Zealand dollar edged higher, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged as widely expected and reiterated it would remain steady for a while yet. The kiwi rose 0.4 percent from late U.S. trading on Wednesday to $0.7248, edging back in the direction of a four-month peak of $0.7320 set last week. Last week, the Federal Reserve, as expected, raised key borrowing costs by a quarter point to 1.00-1.25 percent, while Fed Chair Janet Yellen downplayed recent signs of inflation softening. Sterling inched up 0.1 percent to $1.2677, after having risen 0.3 percent on Wednesday when the Bank of England's chief economist, Andy Haldane, said he expected to back a British rate increase this year.