Rupee market closed, Dollar little changed vs. major Currencies

Friday,   17-Aug-2018   09:23 AM (IST)

The Indian currency and debt markets are closed today on the occasion of Parsi New Year Day. Yesterday rupee closed at 70.15/16 levels. Rupee touched the record low of 70.3850/3950 levels yesterday. Benchmark indices opened higher as Asia markets rebounded on Friday following a strong lead in Wall Street. At 9:17 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 37,854, up 190 points while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 11,435, up 50 points.

The dollar was little changed against other major currencies on Friday after nudging away from 13-1/2-month highs amid easing risk aversion and as investors awaited the next developments in the U.S.-China trade saga. The dollar index, a measure of the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major peers, was steady at 96.647. It had climbed to 96.984, its highest since late June 2017 on Wednesday during a week in which a plunge by the Turkish lira to record lows and concerns over China’s economic health hit emerging market currencies, driving up demand for the safe-haven greenback. The dollar lost steam, however, after China and the United States agreed on Thursday to hold a new round of trade talks on Aug. 21-22, helping stem risk aversion in the broader markets. Next week’s lower-level trade talks between the world’s two biggest economies may have brought some relief to the wary financial markets. Still, White House Economic adviser Larry Kudlow warned Beijing not to underestimate President Donald Trump’s resolve in pushing for changes in China’s economic policies. On Aug. 23, $16 billion in new U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods take effect, along with an equal amount of retaliatory tariffs from Beijing. The euro was a shade lower at $1.1372 after gaining 0.3 percent overnight. The single currency was down 0.3 percent this week, during which it brushed a 13-month low of $1.1301 in the wake of concerns that financial turmoil in Turkey could negatively affect European banks. The Turkish lira, which helped trigger global market turbulence at the week's start, was little changed at 5.87 per dollar. The lira plunged to a record low of 7.24 on Monday before mounting a three-day rebound, helped by factors including measures by the Turkish central bank to support its currency and Qatar’s pledge to invest $15 billion in Turkey. However, there are still concerns over Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s policies to combat the country’s double-digit inflation and his row with Washington over detained American pastor Andrew Brunson.