The Rupee on Thursday breached the 49-mark against the US dollar and fell by 52 paise in early trade following increased capital outflow by foreign funds due to melting stock markets.
Gold has always served as a hedge against inflation and declining US dollar. When investors realise that their money is losing value they will start positioning their investments in a hard asset that has traditionally maintained its value. The reason gold benefits from a declining US dollar is because gold is priced in US dollars globally. Whenever there is news that hints at some type of uncertainty, investors will often buy gold as a safe haven & as diversifying investment.
The rupee had gained two paise to close at one-month high of 62.14 against the dollar in Tuesday's trade.
The Indian rupee resumed sharply lower at 66.65 per dollar against last Friday's level of 66.48.
Increased demand for the US currency from importers put pressure on the rupee.
The Indian rupee, which has depreciated 1.1 per cent so far in August, is expected to decline further on the back of a strengthening US dollar and a weakening Chinese yuan, according to a Business Standard poll of analysts. The Indian rupee hit an all-time low recently, closing at 83.15 per dollar. Five of the 10 respondents said the Indian currency might touch 83.5 per dollar in August itself, while others said the worst could be over.
The latest flashpoint in West Asia has derailed India's preliminary plans to resume crude oil imports from Iran, officials said. In January, officials of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had told Business Standard that the government had been studying proposals for the same, given that India was trying to expand sources of imports. "We are always monitoring the situation when it comes to crude flows.
The silver lining is that a pick-up in the US economy could help emerging market exports.
As many as 86 per cent of senior business executives have deployed artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance revenue streams or create new ones, said a report by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Wednesday. As many as 69 per cent of businesses are more focused on using AI for innovation and increasing revenue than on improving productivity and optimising cost, said the 'TCS AI for Business Study'.
'To date, they've been fantastic in how they've continued to play all three formats of the game. Their commitment to Test cricket... I don't think it has ever been as strong as it is now'
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.
India should become a middle-income country and then push to make INR (rupee) a hard currency, and till then, it must promote the settlement of global trade in the local currency, think tank GTRI said on Sunday. Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that transforming a currency into a hard currency is a complex process that hinges on several pivotal factors. Firstly, economic stability is paramount; a country must exhibit low and stable inflation, consistent growth, and a balanced trade environment.
The domestic unit moved in a range of 64.14 and 63.99.
In worldwide trade, the US dollar continued its highly bullish trend against all major emerging market currencies
India's external debt rose marginally to $629.1 billion at June-end 2023, although the debt-GDP ratio declined, according to a Reserve Bank data released on Thursday. The debt rose by about $4.7 billion from $624.3 billion at March-end. "The external debt to GDP ratio declined to 18.6 per cent at end-June 2023 from 18.8 per cent at end-March 2023," RBI said.
The global billionaires list witnessed as many as 94 new entrants from India, stated a report by Hurun India on Tuesday. Following a net addition of 84, the country's billionaire tally touched 271 with their combined wealth at $1 trillion, noted the report. Mukesh Ambani, chairman & managing director of Reliance Industries, is the only Indian to make it into the top 10 of the Hurun Global Rich List 2024, a ranking of billionaires in US dollar terms.
Gold is an excellent asset class for diversification and should be included in all long-term portfolios.
RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, on Monday, said the current level of the rupee is "pretty reasonable" and any attempt to devalue it may lead to a surge in inflationary pressures and "offset any benefits"
The impact of currency depreciation can also be mitigated by holding a portion of your investment portfolio in dollar-denominated assets.
The Mumbai international airport has received an email threatening to blow up its Terminal 2, with the sender demanding one million dollars in Bitcoin to prevent the blast, the police said on Friday.
Among the Sensex firms, JSW Steel, Titan, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors and HDFC Bank were the biggest gainers. NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, State Bank of India and Larsen & Toubro were among the laggards.
Indian airline industry is expecting to prune its net losses to Rs 3,000-5,000 crore in this fiscal from an estimated Rs 17,000-17,500 crore in FY2023 on the back of improved yields and stable cost environment, credit ratings agency ICRA said on Tuesday. At the same time, ICRA also estimated that domestic air passenger traffic will expand by 8-13 per cent each in FY2024 and FY2025. The rating agency has also maintained its stable outlook on the industry in view of healthy passenger traffic growth, improved yields and a stable cost environment.
Forex dealers attributed the fall to increased demand for the dollar.
Indian market probably has more headroom than the US, says Geoff Lewis, senior strategist for Asia, Manulife Asset Management.
The domestic currency had lost 15 paise to close at 63.82 on Wednesday.
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Demand for the dollar from importers weighed on the local currency.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Tuesday that India's general government debt (comprising both central and state government debt) could exceed 100 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the medium term. It also cautioned that long-term debt sustainability risks are high due to the significant investment required to meet India's climate change mitigation targets. The Indian government, however, disagreed, arguing that risks from sovereign debt are extremely limited as it is predominantly denominated in domestic currency.
Heavy dollar demand from some banks and importers, mainly oil refiners, weighed on the rupee's fortunes.
In worldwide trade, the American dollar traded with solid strength against all major emerging currencies
The rupee hovered in a narrow range of 62.20 and 62.28
A whirlwind trip of the dark underbelly of global finance, covering everything from tax law changes to aiding criminals to decamp with money from bank accounts.
A smart rebound in the stock market and sustained capital inflows restricted the rupee loss
Russian oil supplies to India will continue to flow unhindered and suppliers will come up with ways to sidestep secondary sanctions, a Russian official told Business Standard.
Fresh foreign capital outflows also affected the rupee sentiment, a forex dealer said.
'Gold prices thrive on volatility and more so when the stock markets trend downward.'
Businesspersons who have the potential to contribute to the economy of a country are given a red carpet welcome by way of a start-up visa.
Bajaj Finserv was the biggest loser among the Sensex constituents, sliding 3.81 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, SBI, Larsen & Toubro and Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank and Titan. On the other hand, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, Asian Paints and Wipro were the gainers.
Global trends, trading activity of foreign investors and movement of oil benchmark Brent crude would dictate terms in the domestic markets this week, analysts said. Equity markets, which fell nearly 3 per cent last week, may face volatile trends amid the monthly derivatives expiry on Thursday. "This week marks the September month Futures and Options (F&O) expiry, which is expected to bring about volatility in the market," said Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart Ltd.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) selling spree continued as they dumped Indian equity worth over Rs 5,800 crore this month so far on rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. This came after such investors withdrew Rs 24,548 crore in October and Rs 14,767 crore in September, data with the depositories showed. Before the outflow, FPIs were incessantly buying Indian equities in the last six months from March to August and brought in Rs 1.74 lakh crore during the period.
The Reserve Bank has told the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the objective of frequent interventions in the forex market is to curb excessive volatility, dismissing the Fund's rationale for reclassifying India's exchange rate regime. The IMF, following the Article IV consultation with the Indian authorities, reclassified the status of the exchange rate regime to "stabilised arrangement" from "floating" for period between December 2022 to October 2023. India's Executive Director at IMF K V Subramanian and Senior Advisors Sanjay Kumar Hansda and Anand Singh questioned the selection period adopted by the Fund for analysis and also reclassification of the country's exchange rate regime.
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