Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Friday erased most of its morning gains and was trading little changed against US dollar as traders avoided taking long positions ahead of key Karnataka election results and inflation data due next week.
At 1.58pm, the home currency was trading at 67.30 against US dollar, up 0.02% from its previous close of 67.32. The currency opened at 66.17 a dollar.
The 10-year bond yield stood at 7.739%, up from its previous close of 7.714%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Karnataka elections will be held on Saturday and its results due on 15 May.
The government will announce consumer price inflation (CPI) and wholesale price inflation (WPI) on 14 May. According to Bloomberg analyst estimates, CPI and WPI will be at 4.45% and 2.9%, respectively, for April month. Last month, CPI and WPI stood at 4.28% and 2.47%, respectively.
So far this year, rupee weakened over 5% while foreign investors have bought $742.40 million and sold $2.67 billion in equity and debt markets, respectively.
Benchmark Sensex Index rose 0.32% or 113 points to 35359.27. Since start of January, it gained 3.5%.
Asian currencies were trading higher after softer US inflation was seen reducing pressure on the US Federal Reserve to hike rates at the faster pace.
South Korean won was up 0.3%, Taiwan dollar 0.28%, Indonesian rupiah 0.17%, Thai Baht 0.09%. However, Philippines peso was down 0.26%, China offshore 0.16%, Malaysian ringgit 0.13%, Japanese yen 0.08%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 92.729, up 0.09% from its previous close of 92.65.
Bloomberg contributed this story