Rupee ended weaker, Pound steady vs. Dollar

Thursday,   08-Apr-2021   04:30 PM (IST)

The Indian rupee ended the session weaker at 74.59/60 levels compared to its opening at 74.3750/3850 levels after touching the low of 74.75/76 levels as a suspected glitch in the Eikon platform hurt volumes in the latter part of the session. As per market participants, moves on the pair (USD/INR) were sharply exaggerated due to the wide bid-ask spread. Outlook for the local unit remained bearish on the central bank's bond buying plan. Rupee traded in the range of 74.1950-74.75 levels today. Rupee touched the high of 74.1950/2050 levels early today amid favourable risk sentiment in the region and exporters covering their receivables. India’s federal government bond yields fell for the second consecutive session as investors stayed bullish after the Reserve Bank of India unveiled an unprecedented note-buying plan to aid the economy. A sudden bout of last-hour sell-off in the banking and financial stocks trimmed gains on the benchmark indices on Thursday. The S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 closed at 49,746 and 14,874 levels, up 84 points and 55 points. In the forward segment 1mth, 3mth and 6mth annualized premia ended the day at 3.82%, 4.32% and 4.48% respectively.

Sterling on Thursday stabilised against the dollar and euro, staunching some of its losses after a bruising bout of profit-taking a day earlier. The pound slumped 0.6% to a one-week low against the dollar and around 1% against the euro on Wednesday as investors took cash off the table after a strong first quarter for the British currency. Sterling was flat against the dollar at $1.3739 having touched its lowest this month a day earlier. Against the euro, it traded down slightly at 86.42 pence per euro, after its worst day against the single currency in five weeks. Expectations of an economic rebound in Britain, spurred by rapid COVID-19 vaccinations, helped sterling to record its best quarter since 2015 versus the euro. Diminishing expectations that the Bank of England will push interest rates to negative territory have also helped. Britain has surged ahead of the rest of Europe in the race to inoculate its population, with almost half of its citizens receiving a first dose. But supply issues from its main Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine have slowed progress in recent days.