The Indian rupee on Monday opened marginally lower against the US dollar, tracking the trend in Asian currency markets.The local unit opened at 60.31 against its Thursday’s close of 60.29.

Most Asian currencies were trading higher with Malaysian ringgit down 0.21%, Japanese yen down 0.17%, Thai baht down 0.11%, Taiwan dollar down 0.08%.

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has gained 2.45%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $4.74 billion during the period from local equity markets.

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 8.864%, compared with its Thursday’s close of 8.853%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 79.892, up 0.06% from the previous close of 79.847.

At 9.15am, the home currency was trading at 60.33, down 0.06% from previous close, while India’s benchmark index, Sensex was trading at 22,644.92 points on BSE, up 0.07%.Markets were shut On Friday on account of Good Friday.

Source:- livemint.com