The Indian rupee on Monday was trading little changed against the US dollar as traders await gross domestic product (GDP) data and developments in US-China trade talks.
At 9.10 am, the domestic currency was trading at 71.69 a dollar, up 0.03% from Friday’s close of 71.71. The Indian unit opened at 71.71 a dollar.
The government will release the GDP data on Friday which is likely to show the economy grew 4.6% in the last quarter – the least since the first three months of 2013, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
“The delay in US-China trade deal is keeping market participants on sidelines. This week USD/INR remained pretty range bound, while conflicting and mixed messages by the (Donald) Trump administration kept rupee on the edge. A long pause will further weaken risk appetite. For the this week, we expect USD/INR spot to trade within 71.55-72.25 range. 72 will act as a strong resistance, until and unless there is clarity over trade deal,” said Rahul Gupta, head of currency Emkay, Global Financial Services
The yield on the 10-year Indian government bond was at 6.51% compared with its previous close of 6.50%.
In the year so far, the rupee has weakened 2.71%, while foreign investors have bought nearly $12.4 billion in Indian equities and $4.57 billion in debt.
In pre-opening trade, the benchmark Sensex rose 0.53% or 212.17 points to 40571.58 points. Year to date, it has gained 11.9%.
Asian currencies were trading mixed. South Korean won was up 0.25%, China Offshore 0.13%, China renminbi 0.06%, and Taiwan dollar 0.04%. However, Malaysian ringgit was down 0.14%, Japanese yen 0.11%, Philippines peso 0.09%, Thai Baht 0.05%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against a basket of major currencies, was at 98.26 against its previous close of 98.27.
