Rupee closes marginally lower against US dollar at 66.76

Date:	11-06-2016
Subject:	Rupee closes marginally lower against US dollar at 66.76

Mumbai: The Indian rupee closed marginally lower against the US dollar on Friday, as traders avoided long positions ahead of the key economic data from global and domestic markets due next week.

The home currency closed at 66.76, down 0.06% from its previous close of 66.72. The rupee opened at 66.81 per US dollar and touched a high and a low of 66.74 and 66.88, respectively.

Most Asian currencies closed lower. South Korean won was down 0.81%, Malaysian ringgit 0.65%, Taiwan dollar 0.31%, Philippines peso 0.22%, Singapore dollar 0.18%, Thai baht 0.15%, China offshore 0.14% and Indonesian rupiah 0.05%. However, Japanese yen was up 0.25% and China renminbi 0.14%.

India’s benchmark Sensex index fell 0.48%, or 127.71 points, to close at 26,635.75 points. So far this year, the Sensex has gained 2%.

The government will release the April factory output data on Friday after 5.30pm. According to a Bloomberg analyst poll, the factory output will rise 0.7% in April, against a 0.1% rise in March.

The Consumer Price index (CPI)-based inflation and Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation data for May will be out on 13 June and 14 June respectively. According to a Bloomberg poll of analysts, CPI will be at 5.55% in May against 5.39% in April while WPI will be at 0.44% for May compared with 0.34% in April.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics will release the May data on industrial output, investment, real estate sales and construction, and retail sales on 13 June. The US Federal Reserve officials will meet on 14-15 June to discuss policy while the Bank of Japan (BoJ) is likely to stay on hold at its 16 June meeting. The UK referendum on its European Union (EU) membership on 23 June.

Meanwhile, India’s 10-year bond yield closed at 7.492%, compared with its Thursday’s close of 7.487%.

So far this year, the rupee has weakened 0.91%, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have bought $2.74 billion from the local equity market and sold $1.20 billion in the debt market.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.223, up 0.29% from its previous close of 93.953.