Rupee logs worst day in two weeks on likely dollar outflows

The Indian rupee closed lower on Tuesday, logging its worst day in two weeks, weighed by possible corporate dollar outflows and weakness in the Chinese currency.

The rupee closed 0.21% lower at 82.1175 to the dollar, compared with 81.9350 in the previous session.

Tuesday's move was mostly in reflection of possible fund outflows and a weaker Chinese yuan, said Dilip Parmar, research analyst at HDFC Securities.

USD/INR will see resistance around 82.30-82.40 levels, Parmar added.

Indian equities saw two big-ticket stake sales on Tuesday. British asset manager abrdn plc sold $432 million worth of stake in HDFC Asset Management Co, while Timken India's Singapore parent sold $231 million worth of stake.

Barring a few stake sales, fund inflows into equities have been fairly strong, helping the rupee to be mostly stable.

"Ongoing trends in supply chain relocation should continue to boost foreign direct inflows, while India's relatively low exposure to global growth slowdown should help direct portfolio inflows," Barclays said in a note.

"We do not expect USD/INR to breach 83 levels even if the broad dollar strengthens. Dollar demand is unlikely to be large, in our view, and should be easily offset by the Reserve Bank of India's dollar sales."

Meanwhile, the offshore Chinese yuan also dropped below 7.18 to the dollar, pulling some Asian currencies lower.

The dollar index was mostly firm at 102.460 on the back of the weaker offshore yuan.

The dollar awaits U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony on Wednesday and Thursday for guidance on interest rates, following a hawkish pause last week