Yields on 10-year government bonds was at 7.688% compared to its Friday’s close of 7.670%. Photo: Mint
Mumbai: The Indian rupee and bond prices erased all the morning gains and closed lower on Monday ahead of the key gross domestic product (GDP) data.
The home currency closed at 64.80, down 0.09% from its previous close of 64.73. The local currency opened at 64.70 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.63 and 64.83 respectively.
Yields on 10-year government bonds ended at 7.688% compared to its Friday’s close of 7.667%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Government will release GDP data on Wednesday for the December quarter. According to Bloomberg analysts, GDP may rise 6.9% from 6.3% in the previous quarter.
Traders are also cautious as Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell will speak before the House financial services committee on Tuesday and the Senate banking committee two days later to give his Humphrey-Hawkins testimony, Bloomberg reported.
India’s benchmark Sensex index rose 0.89% or 303.60 points to 34,445.75. So far this year, Sensex has risen 1%.
Year to date, the rupee weakened 1.1%, while foreign investors have bought $547.80 million and $1.59 billion in equity and debt markets, respectively.
Asian currencies were trading higher. South Korean won was up 0.5%, Japanese yen 0.36%, China renminbi 0.3%, Malaysian ringgit 0.26%, China offshore 0.19%, Thai baht 0.12%, Indonesian rupiah 0.11%, Singapore dollar 0.11% and Philippines peso rose 0.09%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 89.714, down 0.19% from its previous close of 89.883.
