Rupee closes marginally higher against US dollar

Rupee

The rupee closed marginally higher against the US dollar on July 3 tracking gains in the local equities and Asian currencies market.

The home currency ended at 81.96 a dollar, up 0.10 percent from its previous close of 82.04. Meanwhile, the Sensex ended at a fresh record high of 65205, up 0.75 percent from its previous close.

In the June quarter, the rupee outperformed among Asian currencies amid continued inflow from foreign investors. In the June quarter, the rupee strengthened 0.2 percent while its peers - Japanese yen, Chinese renminbi, Malaysian ringgit - declined nearly 8 percent, 5.5 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively. In the June quarter, FII's bought around $10 billion in local equities.

The US dollar index experienced a lacklustre performance on June 30, failing to make a significant impact. This was largely due to the release of US core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data indicating a slowdown in consumer spending. Looking ahead, market focus will shift to the upcoming US job report, which is expected to play a crucial role in shaping the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and, consequently, influencing the direction of the US dollar index.

Among the Asian currencies, South Korean won was up 0.75 percent, Indonesian rupiah rose 0.24 percent, Thai Baht gained 0.15 percent, China Yuan 0.12 percent, Taiwan dollar 0.06 percent. Among the losers, Japanese yen fell 0.21 percent while Philippines peso declined 0.2 percent.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 103.16, up 0.24 percent from its previous close of 102.91.

(With inputs from Reuters and Bloomberg)