Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Thursday closed marginally weaker against the US dollar tracking losses in the Asian currencies markets.
The rupee closed at 64.17 a dollar, down 0.04% from its Wednesday’s close of 64.15. The rupee opened at 64.20 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.17 and 64.24 respectively.
Overnight, the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and also signalled that it is looking past a recent deceleration in economic growth.
Traders are cautious ahead of the key US official employment report on Friday. Traders are also keeping a watch on Fed chair Janet Yellen and at least five other central bank officials as they are scheduled to speak on Friday, besides the French presidential election on Sunday.
The benchmark Sensex index rose 0.77% or 231.41 points to closed at 30,126.21. So far this year, it has risen 12.5%.
So far this year, the rupee has gained 5.7%, while foreign investors bought $6.30 billion and $7.59 billion in local equity and debt markets, respectively.
The 10-year bond yield closed at 6.968% compared to its previous close of 6.954%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Asian currencies were trading lower. Taiwan dollar was down 0.36%, Thai Baht 0.21%, Malaysian ringgit 0.17%, Singapore dollar 0.16%, Japanese yen 0.15%, Indonesian rupiah 0.15%, South Korean won 0.14%. However, Philippines peso was up 0.21% and China renminbi 0.05%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 99.103, down 0.11% from its previous close of 99.209.