Rupee ended lower, Euro lower vs. Dollar

Monday,   10-Jun-2019   05:26 PM (IST)

The Indian rupee ended the session lower at 69.65/66 levels compared to its opening at 69.45/46 levels after touching the low of 69.67/68 levels as state-run lenders stepped up greenback purchases tracking an uptick in crude oil prices and as the Yuan paced losses in regional currencies. Rupee traded in the range of 69.3850-69.67 levels today. Most Asian currencies ended lower against the dollar. Indian shares ended higher boosted by IT stocks, after paring some of the early gains on optimism from the U.S.-Mexico migration deal last week that averted a potential tariff war. The broader NSE Nifty ended up 0.44% at 11,922.70, while the benchmark BSE Sensex closed 0.43% higher at 39,784.52. India government bonds fell for a second day, with the benchmark yield posting its biggest single-session rise in over four months, as market focus shifts to rising crude oil prices as well as fiscal risks ahead. In the forward segment 1mth, 3mth and 6mth annualized premia ended the day at 3.83%, 3.99% and 4.05% respectively.

The euro pulled back from 2-1/2 month highs on Monday as a U.S.-Mexico deal over migration boosted the dollar and after sources said European Central Bank policymakers were open to cutting the ECB’s policy rate should economic growth worsen. The single currency rocketed last week after the ECB did not - as some had anticipated - hint at interest rate cuts, instead saying rates would stay “at their present levels” until mid-2020. But on Sunday two sources familiar with the ECB’s policy discussions said a cut was firmly in play if the bloc’s economy was to stagnate again after expanding by 0.4% in the first quarter of the year. The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1306 after hitting $1.1348 last week, its highest since March. The dollar index gained 0.3% to 96.825. The greenback had weakened last week after poor economic data encouraged investors to scale up their bets that the Federal Reserve would soon cut interest rates. The Mexican peso surged more than 2% after the United States and Mexico struck a deal on migration to avert a trade tariff war, supporting a rebound in investor risk appetite that also knocked the safe-haven yen lower. U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened to impose 5% import tariffs on all Mexican goods starting on Monday if Mexico did not commit to do more to tighten its borders. The yen shed 0.3% to 108.65 after earlier hitting its weakest since late May, though it remains more than 3% stronger than its levels of April. Investors also sold the Swiss franc.