Rupee opened higher, Dollar lower vs. major currencies
Thursday,
08-Dec-2022
09:48 AM (IST)
The Indian rupee opened the day higher at 82.27/28 levels compared to its previous close at 82.47/48 levels amid weaker oil prices and as the dollar dropped overnight on growth concerns in the world's top economy. As in most of the sessions over the past two weeks, the rupee may not be able to sustain these gains as any dip in the USD/INR pair sees a lot of dollar-buying interest. Asian currencies were tepid, while equities mostly declined. Indian government bond yields open lower, tracking a slump in oil prices and U.S. yields. Equity markets opened flat tracking weakness in global peers. At 9:23 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 62,321 down 90 point, while the broader Nifty50 was at 18,548 down 13 point. As per the technical indicators range for the USDINR pair may be 81.90-82.60 levels. Rupee has an immediate support at 82.45 levels. A breach of the same may see rupee at 82.61 followed by 82.92 levels. On the positive side rupee is likely to face resistance at 82.13 levels and if it is able to break the same then it may gain up to 81.96 levels followed by 81.65 levels.
The U.S. dollar remained weak on Thursday after sliding against major peers overnight for the first time this week as investors fretted about the potential for recession in the United States. The yen garnered support from a decline in Treasury yields amid bets the U.S. Federal Reserve will slow the pace of interest rate hikes but may keep rates high for longer. The Yuan hovered near an almost three-month high after China revealed a loosening of stifling COVID restrictions. The U.S. dollar index - which gauges the greenback versus six counterparts - ticked up 0.16% to 105.30 early in the Asian session, clawing back a bit of its 0.42% slide overnight, its first decline since Friday. While investors have been anticipating the Fed will soon slow its tightening pace, recent upbeat U.S. employment, services and factory data have added to investor uncertainty over the policy outlook. Money markets price 91% odds that the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee will raise rates by half a point on Dec. 14, with just 9% probability for another 75 basis point increase. Rates are now seen peaking at just below 5% in May. Fed policy makers will have the benefit of seeing the latest consumer inflation data a day before the decision. On the political front, the Democrats strengthened their razor-thin majority in the senate after a narrow win for incumbent Raphael Warnock in Georgia over Donald Trump-backed former football star Herschel Walker. Long-term Treasury yields plunged to an almost three-month low overnight, and remained depressed in Tokyo trading at around 3.45%. The dollar-yen pair, which is extremely sensitive to U.S. yields, continued to consolidate after slumping to the lowest level since mid-August last week, and was last up 0.19% at 136.81 yen per dollar following a 0.34% depreciation overnight. The euro was little changed at $1.0502, while sterling eased 0.25% to $1.2181. The euro has risen recently on signs that Europe's economic downturn may be less bad than previously feared. The European Central Bank will review its policy on Dec. 15. The risk-sensitive Australian and New Zealand dollars retreated, with the Aussie down 0.28% at $0.6707 and the kiwi off 0.27% at $0.63395. The currencies gained 0.56% and 0.61% respectively overnight. The U.S. dollar edged 0.13% higher to 6.9718 Yuan in offshore trading, clawing back some of its 0.34% decline from Wednesday, when the Chinese government announced a relaxation of some COVID-19 measures that have badly hampered the economy.
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