Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Wednesday strengthened marginally against the US dollar after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept key rates unchanged.
The Indian rupee closed at 64.33, up 0.15% from its Tuesday’s close of 64.43. The rupee opened at 64.49 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.30 and 64.52 respectively.
RBI also reduced statutory liquidity ratio by 50 basis points to 20% from 20.5%. It also maintained a neutral stand and said that premature action could lead to “disruptive policy reversals later” and damage the credibility of monetary policy.
According to a Mint poll of 12 economists, RBI expected to hold the rates and to soften its hawkish stance amid slower economic growth and record-low inflation.
The 10-year bond yield was trading at 6.567% compared to its previous close of 6.642%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
The benchmark Sensex index rose 0.26% or 80.72 points to close at 31,271.28. So far this year, it has gained 17.44%.
So far this year, the rupee has gained 5.58%, while foreign investors bought $7.83 billion and $11.28 billion in local equity and debt markets, respectively.
Asian currencies were trading lower. South Korean won was down 0.60%, China offshore 0.33%, Thai baht 0.16%, Singapore dollar 0.15%, Indonesian rupiah 0.05%, Japanese yen 0.02% and Hong Kong Dollar 0.01%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 96.948, up 0.32% from its previous close of 96.636.