Indian rupee opens 6 paise higher ahead of RBI policy, outperforms weak Asian currencies

Indian Rupee

The Indian rupee opened 6 paise higher today, September 30, ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy announcement, despite weakness in other Asian currencies.

The local unit opened at 88.6975 against the US dollar, up from the previous close of 88.7612.

Asian currencies remain under pressure in the morning trade with South Korean Won down by 0.18 percent, Thai Baht down by 0.15 percent, Indonesian Rupiah and Singapore Dollar down by 0.08 percent each, and Chinese Renminbi and Japanese Yen down by 0.04 percent, according to the Bloomberg data.

Further, the market remains cautious ahead of the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee outcome on October 1.

Moneycontrol's poll of economist, treasury heads, and fund managers showed that the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee (MPC) is likely to maintain the status quo on interest rates in its October review.

The rate-setting panel is likely to draw comfort from the higher growth in the first quarter while taking time to assess the data on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms, the majority of experts said.

"As the Fed is all set to cut rates in its next monetary policy meeting, while the RBI is expected to keep rates steady, this interest rate differential could provide some support to the rupee," said Amit Pabari, managing director at CR Forex Advisors.

On September 29, US President Donald Trump said that he will impose steep tariffs on foreign-made movies and furniture, targeting industries he claims have been hollowed out by overseas competition.

In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump accused other countries of “stealing” the US movie industry, saying California had been “particularly hard hit.” He declared to impose a 100% tariff on all films produced outside the United States.

"Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing 'candy from a baby'," he said on Monday.