After an extremely stable 2023, the Indian rupee started 2024 on a promising note and has turned out to be the best-performing Asian currency so far in January, appreciating 0.1 per cent despite 2 per cent rise in the dollar index. All other Asian currencies depreciated by around 1.4-4 per cent during the month. The local currency regained its ground against the greenback on the back of foreign portfolio inflows, said market participants.
Exchange-traded currency derivatives volumes are likely to drop in view of new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules, casting a cloud over further participation of retail investors and proprietary traders. There are concerns that existing positions without any underlying exposure will need to be liquidated. Also, weighed down by dollar demand from local oil companies and weakness in its Asian peers, the rupee on Wednesday (April 3) ended at a new closing low of 83.44 versus the US currency.
Maruti, Axis Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance also finished with gains. NSE Nifty rallied 203.65 points to 11,095.25.
With inflation remaining at elevated levels, central banks around the world, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will kill excess demand in economy over the next six to eight months, sources in the know said. They also indicated that there could be a rate hike in June, when the inflation forecast for the current financial year would be raised. The RBI, the sources said, might announce more steps such as raising the limit on held-to-maturity (HTM) bonds to support government borrowings but might not come out with any further quantitative easing GSAP (Government Securities Acquisition Programme) measures.
Kotak Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti and SBI.
The dollar index surged to multi-year high.
In the global market, dollar fell against most of its rivals on Monday.
Ultratech Cement, TCS, Kotak Mahindra, M&M, Maruti, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Auto were the prominent gainers. On the other hand, ICICI Bank, Nestle, Asian Paints, ONGC and ITC ended in the red.
The rupee had gained 14 paise to close at 52.87 on Tuesday on fresh dollar selling by exporters on the back of sluggish movements of the US currency overseas.
With Indian stocks under pressure, the rupee tumbled to a low of 54.89 on emergence of dollar demand from importers and some banks on expectations of further rise in dollar overseas.
The country's foreign exchange reserves surged by $58.38 billion in April-September 2021 to $635.36 billion, says an RBI report released on Wednesday. The forex reserves were at $576.98 billion at end-March 2021. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) publishes half-yearly reports on management of foreign exchange reserves.
The country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $7.541 billion to $572.712 billion in the week ended July 15 as the Reserve Bank continued to intervene in the market to curb the fall of the rupee. In the previous week ended July 8, the reserves shrunk by $8.06 billion to $580.25 billion, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed on Friday. On Friday, the rupee fell by 5 paise to close at 79.90 against the US dollar.
The rupee had lost 23 paise to end at 54.09 in Tuesday's trade due to month-end dollar demand.
They expressed concern on taxation issues, the high fiscal and current account deficits, and sought removal of capital gains tax.
Titan was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing over 4 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, Maruti, Reliance Industries, ONGC and UltraTech Cement.
The rupee on Tuesday fell by 12 paise to 53.97 against the dollar in early trade, extending losses for the fifth straight session at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market due to sustained demand for the US currency from importers.
Today, they can't meet even the piffling capital norm set by Mint Road - Rs 5 crore for partnerships and Rs 10 crore for public and private firms in this line of business. Bulk of the trades are put through e-platform offerings of Reuters, Bloomberg, JPMorgan, Barclays or Deutsche Bank. And they have the web-based FXall, FXconnect, Atriax, Hotspotfx and LavaFX for company.
Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting around 3 per cent, followed by Titan, Nestle India, HUL, ITC, Asian Paints and HDFC duo. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, M&M and Sun Pharma were among the laggards. NSE Nifty rose 25.15 points or 0.22 per cent to 11,247.55.
The rupee on Tuesday lost 11 paise to Rs 55.85 against the US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange following dollar gains against other currencies overseas amid a weak trend in the equity market.
Traders said the Reserve Bank's efforts to curb the falling rupee have failed to arrest the decline.
In worldwide trade, the US dollar continued its highly bullish trend against all major emerging market currencies
The rupee had recovered by 10 paise to close at 55.06 against the dollar on Monday on dollar selling by exporters amid weakness in the American currency in international markets.
In the Sensex pack, HDFC, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Titan, Asian Paints, Mahindra and Mahindra and TCS were the prominent gainers. On the other hand, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra and SBI were among the major laggards. On the other hand, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, HUL, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank were trading in the red.
Sustained dollar sales by exporters and banks and a higher opening in the equity market also boosted the rupee sentiment, forex dealers said.
Bharti Airtel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, falling over 3 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid, SBI, HDFC Bank and Sun Pharma. HCL Tech was the top gainer, rallying around 10 per cent. TCS, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Titan too ended with up to 5 per cent gains.
Banks and importers preferred to increase their dollar position at the current level, a forex dealer said.
Forex dealers said besides dollar's gains against euro in the overseas markets, a weak opening in the stock market put pressure on the domestic currency.
The rupee declined for fourth day in a row by losing 16 paise to Rs 52.88 per dollar in early trade today, weighed down by dollar's gains overseas.
The rupee declined for fourth day in a row by losing 16 paise to Rs 52.88 per dollar in early trade today, weighed down by dollar's gains overseas.
The rupee had edged up by 45 paise to close at an over five-month high of 52.40 against the dollar in the previous session on Monday on sustained capital inflows.
In New York, the dollar slipped against the euro and other major currencies yesterday after the US economic data boosted equities.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee resumed sharply higher at 53.80 a dollar compared to last Friday's close of 54.30.
ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping over 5 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Nestle India, SBI, HDFC, ONGC and Kotak Bank. On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, TCS, Bharti Airtel, M&M and Maruti were among the laggards.
With local stock market displaying weak trends in the morning, the rupee touched over six-week low of 56.03 amid initial dollar demand from importers.
Continued dollar offloading by exporters and some banks on hopes further fall in dollar value overseas mainly supported the rupee.
FIIs bought stocks worth just Rs 83.16 crore as per provisional data.
It had strengthened by 45 paise on Tuesday to close at one-month high of 55.07 against the dollar, tracking a jump in local shares.
Forex dealers said a higher opening in the domestic stock market and euro's gain against the American currency as concerns over eurozone and the US eased, supported the rupee.
Tracking weak stock markets, the rupee today plunged by 65 paise to 55.97, its lowest closing in over three weeks, against dollar amid fresh Eurozone worries and month-end US currency demand from oil firms.
Forex dealers said a higher opening in the stock market also helped the local unit to recover after four sessions of losses.
