Rupee higher, Dollar edges up vs. Yen

Friday,   23-Feb-2018   12:21 PM (IST)

The Indian rupee is trading higher at 64.84/85 levels (12:15 pm) in the afternoon deals after touching the high of 64.8150/8250 levels tracking strength in regional and local shares, while a pause in greenback rally overnight lifted sentiment for emerging market assets. Most Asian peers are trading higher against the greenback. So far rupee traded in the range of 64.8150-64.95 levels. Sensex is up 219 pts and Nifty tests 10,460 mark. As per the technical indicators, range for USDINR pair for the remaining part of the day may be 64.70-65.20 levels. Rupee has an immediate support at 64.93 levels. A breach of the same may see rupee falling to 65.01 followed by 65.12 and 65.24 levels. On the positive side, rupee is likely to face resistance at 64.79 levels and if it is able to break the same then it may gain up to 64.74 levels followed by 64.66 and 64.58 levels. In the forward segment 1mth, 3mth and 6mth annualized premia are currently trading at 4.34%, 4.50% and 4.20% respectively.

Forex today witnessed the resurgence of the US dollar demand across the board, prompting most majors to pause their relief rally, as Treasury yields regained poise, after a brief correction, ahead of the Fed’s bi-annual monetary policy report due for release later on Friday. The Kiwi emerged the biggest loser, despite a better-than-expected NZ retail sales report and stabilizing oil prices while its OZ counterpart, the Aussie, traded with mild losses below the 0.7850 barrier. USD/JPY’s tepid bounce ran into offers at the 107 handle that left the rates in a phase of consolidation over the last hours. Among other related markets, the Asian equity markets traded with modest gains, as investors continue to remain wary over the Fed’s outlook on normalization. Meanwhile, the yellow metal remained on the back foot near $ 1330 levels amid higher Treasury yields.