Rupee ended tad lower, Pound pared early gains vs. Dollar

Tuesday,   06-Nov-2018   05:32 PM (IST)

The Indian rupee ended the session tad lower at 72.9950/73.0050 levels compared to its opening at 72.95/96 levels after touching the low of 73.0725/0825 levels. Rupee rose to 72.91/92 levels early today tracking gains in Asian peers in the run up to the U.S. mid-term election and as lower crude oil prices aided sentiment. However, gave up some gains towards the end of the session after moving range bound throughout the day. Indian shares erased most of their earlier gains to end little changed today with gains in IT and energy stocks slightly outweighing losses in banking counters. The benchmark Sensex closed up 0.12 percent at 34,991.91, while the broader Nifty rose 0.06 percent at 10,530.  Indian government bonds rose today, aided by the central bank’s open market purchase of notes and as the local currency gained against the dollar. In the forward segment 1mth, 3mth and 6mth annualized premia ended the day at 4.16%, 3.98% and 4.12% respectively. Indian financial markets will be shut on Nov. 7- Nov. 8 on the occasion of Diwali and Balipratipada respectively.

Sterling dived after a senior member of the Northern Irish DUP party said on Tuesday it looked like Britain would leave the European Union without a divorce deal.  The latest comments indicate that Prime Minister Theresa May will have to battle domestic political headwinds to get a deal through Parliament with less than five months left before Britain is due to exit the European Union. Northern Ireland’s DUP, which May’s minority government relies on to get legislation through parliament, has vowed to scupper any Brexit deal that treats the province differently from the rest of the United Kingdom. The pound erased earlier gains after Donaldson's comments and fell around 0.2 percent to the day's low at $1.3023. The currency was up as much as 0.3 percent earlier in the session. Against the euro, sterling also weakened to 87.5 pence, trading down 0.1 percent on the day. Britain's FTSE 100 came off its lows as sterling fell, and was last down 0.2 percent. The index dominated by multinational exporters tends to move inversely to the pound. Before the latest comments, the pound was consolidating a 3 percent rally over the last week as hopes grew of a Brexit deal breakthrough with media reports indicating the EU was preparing to back a compromise proposal on the Irish border to resolve the last major hurdle in negotiations. A struggling dollar has also lifted the pound in recent days. It has risen 3 percent versus the dollar this month. Some unwinding of short positions has also helped sterling. While net shorts have shrunk slightly from more than two-year highs in September, they remain near historical highs.