Most of the Asian currencies were trading mixed. The Taiwan dollar was trading up 0.18%, Philippines peso was up 0.05% and Thai baht fell 0.08%, Japanese yen slipped 0.08%.

 

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 8.552%, compared with its Thursday’s close of 8.563%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has gained 2.12%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $12.99 billion during the period from local equity markets.

 

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 82.791, up 0.05% from the previous close of 82.748.On Friday, the government issued gross domestic product (GDP) as well as fiscal deficit data. GDP grew at 5.7% in the June quarter the fastest in more than two years — bettering the 4.6% increase in the preceding quarter. The GDP data was driven by strong industrial recovery. Manufacturing activity grew 3.5% while construction advanced 4.8%, in the first clear sign that Indian economy is on a recovery track.

 

According to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts on Friday, the fiscal deficit for the April-July period stood at Rs.3,24,924 crore, 61.2% of the Budget estimate of Rs.5,31,177 crore. The fiscal deficit — total receipts over total expenditure — was 62.8% of the Budget estimate during the same period in the last financial year.

 

On Monday, the HSBC Manufacturing PMI data, compiled by Markit, will out at 10.30am for the month of August. The Manufacturing PMI had increased to 53 in July, from 51.50 in June.A monthly meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) is scheduled for 4 September, and there are expectations that the ECB will announce quantitative easing in the coming months to strengthen growth in the euro zone, which may boost market sentiment.

 

Source:- livemint.com