The Indian rupee on Wednesday was trading little changed against the US dollar in mid-day trading session.

At 2.14pm, the home currency was trading at 67.91, down 0.02% from its previous close of 67.90. The local currency opened at 67.90 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 67.84 and 67.99, respectively.

The Sensex index fell 1.4% or 329.96 points to 23,683.52 points. So far this year, Sensex fell 9.5%.

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 7.825% against Tuesday’s close of 7.838%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has lost 2.6%, the worst currency in Asia, while foreign institutional investors have sold $1.8 billion from local equity and bought $457.40 million in bond markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 95.967, down 0.11% from the previous close of 96.071.

Most Asian currencies were trading higher. Indonesian rupiah was up 1.3%, Malaysian ringgit 0.87%, South Korean won 0.74%, Taiwan dollar 0.59%, Philippines peso 0.47%, Japanese yen 0.34%, Singapore dollar 0.32%, China offshore 0.19%, Thai baht 0.11% and Hong Kong dollar 0.05%.

Traders are cautious as the Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen will address the US Congress later in the session, for fresh cues and possible relief. Yellen is expected to defend the Fed’s first rate hike in a decade and is likely to insist that further rises remain on track, any signs of a departure from such a stance could provide risk assets with a breather, Reuters reported.

Source:- http://www.livemint.com