Rupee opened lower, Dollar higher vs. major currencies

Monday,   11-Nov-2019   09:07 AM (IST)

The Indian rupee opened the day lower at 71.32/33 levels compared to its previous close at 71.29/30 levels as US-China trade deal uncertainty and mounting worries over Hong Kong protests weigh on regional assets. Indian government bonds little changed in early trade even as traders await state debt supply later today and October retail inflation data on Wednesday. Equity markets opened mildly lower on Monday. At 9:18 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 40,603, up 133 point, while the broader Nifty50 was at 11,998, up 32 point. As per the technical indicators range for the USDINR pair may be 71.10-71.50 levels. Rupee has an immediate support at 71.41 levels. A breach of the same may see rupee at 71.52 followed by 71.58 levels. On the positive side rupee is likely to face resistance at 71.24 levels and if it is able to break the same then it may gain up to 71.11 levels followed by 71.02 levels.

The dollar held near multi-week highs on Monday amid optimism that the United States and China would roll back tariffs that have hurt global growth. Against the Australian dollar the greenback stood just below a two-week peak at $0.6857. Against the New Zealand dollar, it was close to a month high at $0.6336, and likewise against a basket of currencies at 98.358. Moves were slight as traders kept a wary eye for further news on the U.S.-China trade war. Officials from both countries said late last week that a rollback of some tit-for-tat tariffs had been agreed. Even though that was subsequently denied by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday, he did not completely rule out a deal and U.S. benchmark treasuries held above a key support level at 1.9%, buoying the currency. The dollar was marginally weaker against the euro and Japanese yen, reflecting some investor caution that the deal could still unwind. The greenback stood at $1.1020 per euro and at 109.23 yen. The Chinese Yuan was marginally weaker in offshore trade, but still on the strong side of 7-per-dollar at 6.9892 in offshore trade. With the United States on holiday for Veterans Day, focus is likely to be on news headlines, British economic data due later on Monday and a rate-setting meeting of the New Zealand central bank later in the week. Britain's economy has lost momentum this year, hurt by a global downturn due to the U.S.-China trade war as well as increased uncertainty over its exit from the European Union. It is forecast to have grown 0.4% for the quarter. The British pound, whose fate is now closely tied to the outcome of an election set for Dec. 12, edged higher to $1.2795 in Asian trade.