Rupee opened slightly lower, Dollar lower vs. major currencies

Friday,   22-Jan-2021   10:42 AM (IST)

The Indian rupee opened the day slightly lower at 73.03/04 levels compared to its previous close at 72.99/73.00 levels amid pullback in regional currencies and equities. India's federal government bond yields tad up as central bank did not announce OMO for next week. Indian shares slipped on Friday, as investors locked in profits after major indexes hit record highs in the previous session and as a global rally took a breather, while the focus turned to Reliance Industries' quarterly earnings later in the day. At 10:10 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 49,497 down 128 point, while the broader Nifty50 was at 14,574 down 17 point. As per the technical indicators range for the USDINR pair may be 72.90-73.20 levels. Rupee has an immediate support at 73.08 levels. A breach of the same may see rupee at 73.16 followed by 73.26 levels. On the positive side rupee is likely to face resistance at 72.93 levels and if it is able to break the same then it may gain up to 72.86 levels followed by 72.78 levels.

The dollar was headed for its worst week of the year on Friday, as investors cheered in the Joe Biden administration by buying riskier currencies and refreshed bets that a pandemic recovery could push the greenback lower still. Against the euro, the dollar is down almost 0.8% this week and it touched a week-low of $1.2173 per euro on Friday. The dollar index has fallen by the same weekly margin, and was steady at 90.075 early in the Asia session. The euro had found some support from the European Central Bank keeping policy steady and accommodative. currencies have led the charge higher, with the Norwegian crown up 1.8% for the week, helped by Norges Bank's decision to hold its policy rate steady, albeit at zero. The Swedish crown is up 1.4% for the week. The risk-sensitive Antipodean currencies have also been gainers, with the Australian dollar up 0.8% and the kiwi climbing more than 1% over the week so far. Sterling rose to a 2-1/2 year high of $1.3745 overnight on hopes Britain's vaccine roll-out can usher in a rebound in growth. It held at that level on Friday, up 1% for the week. The sentiment-driven moves have eroded gains made by the U.S dollar since the Democrats won control of the U.S. Congress earlier this month. The dollar had risen along with U.S. Treasury yields on expectations of more fiscal stimulus and government borrowing under a Biden administration. The dollar was steady against the Japanese yen on Friday at 103.58, but has lost 0.3% over the week. A heavy sell-off in Bitcoin saw the cryptocurrency drop 5% in Asia trade on Friday to hit an almost three-week low of $28,800. Later on Friday, preliminary purchasing managers' index figures are due across Europe and the United States, and weakness is expected as fresh waves of coronavirus infection have driven new lockdowns and curtailed growth.