Rupee opened higher, Dollar lower vs. major currencies

Wednesday,   15-Jul-2020   10:46 AM (IST)

The Indian rupee opened the day higher at 75.34/35 levels compared to its previous close at 75.4150/4250 levels tracking upbeat local shares as optimism about a coronavirus vaccine bolstered risk appetite in the region. India's federal government bond yields little changed in early trade as investors eye fresh triggers, including next round of RBI's special open market operations. Benchmark indices rose over one per cent on Wednesday, on the back of firm global cues. At 10:10 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 36,540 up 506 point, while the broader Nifty50 was at 10,757 up 149 point. As per the technical indicators range for the USDINR pair may be 75.10-75.60 levels. Rupee has an immediate support at 75.40 levels. A breach of the same may see rupee at 75.52 followed by 75.68 levels. On the positive side rupee is likely to face resistance at 75.27 levels and if it is able to break the same then it may gain up to 75.10 levels followed by 74.95 levels.

The dollar was down on Wednesday morning in Asia, with investors continuing the previous session’s retreat from the safe-haven asset as data released on Tuesday indicated increased U.S. inflation. The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) posted a 0.6% increase month-on-month, its highest in almost eight years. The figure beat analyst forecasts prepared by Investing.com, which predicted a 0.5% increase as well as May’s 0.1% decrease. The data eased investor fears of deflationary pressures on the U.S. economy from the COVID-19 economic downturn. Meanwhile, investors also cheered Tuesday’s report that U.S. biotech firm Moderna's experimental COVID-19 vaccine is safe and generated immune responses in all 45 volunteers who are part of the ongoing study. The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies fell 0.11% to 96.073. The USD/JPY pair was up 0.01% to 107.23. The Bank of Japan is due to release its policy statement later in the day, with monetary policies widely expected to remain unchanged. The USD/CNY pair was down 0.09% to 7.0000. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he has issued the order to end Hong Kong’s preferential trade status. Trump also signed legislation sanctioning Chinese entities involved with enacting the city’s national security laws. The AUD/USD pair gained 0.49% to 0.7008 and the NZD/USD pair was up 0.32% to 0.6561. The two risk-sensitive Antipodean currencies benefitted from improved investor sentiment. The GBP/USD pair gained 0.28% to 1.2584.