Mumbai: The Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar on Monday tracking losses in Asian currencies market amid speculation about a US-China trade deal and after better-than-expected U.S. payrolls. At 9.05am, the home currency was trading at 72.78 a dollar, down 0.52% from its Friday’s close of 72.44. The currency opened at 72.88 a dollar. The 10-year government bond yield stood at 7.78% from its previous close of 7.781%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions. The benchmark Sensex Index rose 0.66% or 230.30 points to 35,241.95 points. Year to date, it has rose 2.8%.
So far this year, the rupee has declined 12.24%, while foreign investors have sold $5.63 billion and $8.38 billion in the equity and debt markets, respectively.
U.S. payrolls advanced 250,000 in October against estimates of 200k, although the prior month was revised lower by 16k amid weather-related distortions. The dollar fell after US President Donald Trump was said to want a trade deal reached with China at the G-20 summit later this month.
Asian currencies were trading lower. Philippines peso was down 0.36%, China renminbi 0.27%, Malaysian ringgit 0.22%, Hong Kong dollar 0.19%, Thai baht 0.19%, Indonesian rupiah 0.15%, South Korean won 0.13%, China Offshore 0.12%, Taiwan dollar 0.09%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 96.498, down 0.05% from its previous close of 96.542.