Rupee trades flat against dollar, RBI meet in focus

The latest U.S. Job Openings report surprised with a rise of approximately 9.6 million openings, contrary to the expected decrease to 8.8 million.

The Indian rupee opened little changed against the US dollar on October 4 ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI’s) bi-monthly policy later in the week.

At 9.10 am, the home currency was trading at 83.23 to a dollar, down 0.02 percent from its previous close of 83.21.

The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is likely to opt for another rate pause on October 6, the fourth consecutive policy where the central bank would leave key interest rates unchanged.

"The USD/INR pair is currently encountering significant resistance at the 83.30 level on the upside while finding support at around 82.80 on the downside. This essentially confines the pair within a range-bound pattern,” CR Forex said in its note.

But if either of these levels is breached, a substantial movement of approximately 80 to 90 paise in either direction is possible, it said.

The latest US Job Openings report surprised with a rise of approximately 9.6 million openings, contrary to the expected decrease to 8.8 million.

The data has raised concerns that the US Federal Reserve might need to raise interest rates again this year, causing the 10-year Treasury yield to reach 4.80 percent, their highest level since August 2007, in anticipation of prolonged higher rates.

Asian currencies weak

Asian currencies were trading weaker. The Thai Baht fell 0.38 percent, the Indonesian rupiah 0.36 percent, the Taiwanese dollar 0.3 percent, the Malaysian ringgit declined 0.24 percent, the Japanese yen fell 0.18 percent and the Singapore dollar lost 0.1 percent.

Among gainers, the China Renminbi rose 0.19 percent and the Philippines peso 0.12 percent.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 107.14, up 0.13 percent from its previous close of 107.

(with Bloomberg inputs)