Rupee opens lower at 60.30 against the US dollar

All Asian currencies were trading lower with South Korean won down 0.32%, Philippine Peso down 0.22%, Thai baht down 0.15% and Malaysian ringgit down 0.07%

Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Tuesday opened lower tracking the weakness in Asian currencies against the US dollar and ahead of WPI and CPI inflation data. It opened at 60.30 per dollar against its Friday’s close of 60.18.

Overnight, the US dollar rose after a robust set of US retail sales data and positive results from US banking major Citigroup. Retail sales in the US rose 1.1% in March.

Citigroup on Monday reported that its first-quarter adjusted net income rose to $4.15 billion, or $1.30 per share, from $4.00 billion, or $1.29 per share a year earlier. Total net income under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles rose to $3.94 billion, or $1.23 per share, from $3.81 billion, or $1.23 per share.

All Asian currencies were trading lower with South Korean won down 0.32%, Philippine Peso down 0.22%, Thai baht down 0.15% and Malaysian ringgit down 0.07%.

At 9.54am, the local unit was trading at 60.31, down 0.22% from previous close, while India’s benchmark index, Sensex was trading at 22,464.90 points on BSE, down 0.73%.

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has gained 2.48%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $4.83 billion during the period from local equity markets.

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 8.977%, compared with its Friday’s close of 8.945%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 79.798, up 0.09% from the previous close of 79.729.

The government will issue WPI and CPI inflation data later on Tuesday. A Bloomberg poll showed that the WPI will be 5.3% for March compared with 4.68% in February while CPI will be 8.25% for March compared with 8.1% in February.

Markets were closed on Monday on account of Ambedkar Jayanti.

RAHUL KUMAR

PGDM 1ST YEAR