Rupee opens at fresh one-month low against dollar

The Indian rupee on July 7 weakened for four straight session against the dollar.

The Indian rupee opened weak against the dollar on July 7 for the fourth straight session and hit a fresh one-month low, tracking losses in Asian currencies as the market adjusted its expectations for potential rate hikes by the Federal Reserve due to robust employment data from the United States.

The home currency opened and touched a low of 82.65. At 9.15 am, the rupee was trading at 82.63 a dollar, down 0.15 percent from its previous close of 82.51.

The resilience of the US labour market was evident in the latest indicators, with a surge in private hiring, a slowdown in layoffs, and a relatively low number of unemployment benefit filings.

In June, American companies created nearly half a million new jobs, marking the highest monthly increase in over a year. Another report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc revealed that job cuts by US employers reached an eight-month low in June.

Among Asian currencies, the Indonesian rupiah fell 0.55 percent, South Korean won 0.44 percent, Thai Baht 0.29 percent, Malaysian ringgit 0.23 percent and the Philippines peso lost 0.1 percent. Among gainers, the Japanese yen was up 0.1 percent.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 103.12, down 0.05 percent from its previous close of 103.17.

(with Bloomberg inputs)