Rupee trades marginally higher against US dollar

Rupee

The rupee was trading marginally higher against the US dollar on June 28 morning after India's current account deficit for the March quarter narrowed amid moderation in the trade deficit.

At 9.20 am, the rupee was trading at 81.99 a dollar, up 0.05 percent from its previous close of 82.03.

India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $1.3 billion, 0.2 percent of the GDP, in the fourth quarter of financial year 2022-23 from $16.8 billion (2 percent of the GDP) in the preceding three-month period and $13.4 billion (1.6 percent of the GDP) a year earlier, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the previous day showed.

On the Asian side, the Bank of China’s intervention led by the weakening Chinese Yuan seemed washed off as the currency was back near 7.23 levels from 7.20 post-intervention, a CR Forex report said.

Asian currencies were trading mixed. Among gainers, the Indonesian rupiah rose 0.2 percent, the Philippines peso gained 0.16 percent and the Japanese yen 0.07 percent.

Among the losers, the Thai Baht fell 0.31 percent, the South Korean won 0.28 percent while the Singapore dollar lost 0.08 percent.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 102.605, up 0.11 percent from its previous close of 102.49.

The dollar index continued to hold above 102.20 despite hawkish signals by European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde who doesn’t see Euro-zone interest rates peaking as long as inflation remains sticky.

However, a series of US data showed the resilience of its economy, fading away the fear of recession, which was reaffirmed by President Joe Biden who doesn’t see a recession, CR Forex report added.

(Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this story)