Rupee ends the session higher, Sterling recovers against dollar

Wednesday,   13-Mar-2019   05:31 PM (IST)

The Indian rupee closed higher against the dollar on dollar sales by exporters amid strength in local shares that increased hopes of foreign fund inflows. The Indian rupee opened at 69.74/75 and touched a low of 69.79/80, before recovering to close higher at 69.5350/5450. Indian government bonds fell today as expectations of more open market purchases by the central bank eased. India’s benchmark BSE Sensex ended up 0.6% at a near six-month high, even as most Asian shares declined after a two-day rally. In the forward segment 1mth, 3mth, 6mth and 12mth annualized premium ended the session at 4.64%, 4.35%, 4.01% and 3.82% respectively.

The British pound is higher against the dollar in early trading in Europe, as the market leans on balance towards believing that Brexit will be softened, delayed or even cancelled. The U.K. parliament rejected the government’s deal on leaving the European Union for a second time on Tuesday, effectively killing it as the EU has said it isn’t prepared to negotiate any more on the terms of leaving. Meanwhile, the US Commerce Department will release data on January durable goods orders. The consensus forecast is that the report will show orders for durable goods fell by 0.7% last month. Core orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, are forecast to rise 0.2%. Today's calendar will also bring investors the latest report on producer prices, which is expected to show an increase of 1.9% on the year in February. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its official weekly oil supplies report for the week ended March 8. Analysts expect the EIA to report a gain of around 2.7 million barrels in crude inventories, although the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. crude stocks actually fell by 2.6 million barrels last week.