The Indian rupee started the session with marginal losses against the US dollar on August 19, as a deteriorating risk backdrop and high oil prices reinforce the currency’s underlying negative near-term bias.
The rupee opened lower at 95.70 per dollar, compared with Friday’s close of 95.68.
According to Finrex, the rupee is showing reasonable resilience despite the oil shock, largely because of suspected continued RBI intervention.
Exporters to sell only at the top for cash or maximum for a week keeping hedging on the sides while importers to buy the dips as usual.
RBI will protect a certain level possibly for the whole day at say 95.80 but oil companies will continue buying $ to fund their payables due, it added.
Asian currencies traded mixed against the US dollar, with the Indonesian rupiah declining 0.358%, followed by the Philippine peso, which slipped 0.30%, while the Thai baht fell 0.193%. The Malaysian ringgit weakened 0.16%, while the Taiwan dollar, Singapore dollar and Chinese renminbi eased 0.075%, 0.055% and 0.05%, respectively. On the positive side, the South Korean won gained 0.218%, while the Japanese yen edged up 0.082% against the previous close.
The U.S. dollar drifted near multi-month lows against major peers on Wednesday as Treasury yields eased from recent highs, with investors awaiting minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting for clues on the path of interest rates.
