MUMBAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) – The Indian rupee strengthened
on Friday, aided by gains in its Asian peers and positive
sentiment following the presentation of the domestic budget.
The rupee was at 82.87 against the U.S. dollar as
of 10:25 a.m. IST, higher by 0.11%, compared to its close at
82.9650 in the previous session.
The dollar index was little changed at 103 after falling
nearly 0.5% on Thursday, weighed down by a dip in U.S. treasury
yields. Most Asian currencies advanced, led by the Indonesian
rupiah, which was up 0.6%.
The 10-year U.S. treasury yield was last quoted slightly
higher at 3.89% in Asia hours after falling 10 basis points
(bps) on Thursday.
U.S. bond yields fell amid safe haven demand due to renewed
concerns about U.S. regional banks and in light of data that
showed jobless claims rose more than expected for the week ended
Jan. 27.
The rupee’s gains on Friday were aided by broad-based dollar
sales, a foreign exchange trader at a private bank said.
The “double bonanza,” of a drop in U.S. yields and positive
sentiment following the presentation of India’s budget on
Thursday is likely to support further appreciation in the local
unit, the trader added.
The Indian government set lower-than-expected fiscal deficit
and gross borrowing targets for the financial year starting
April 1 in the budget, a move that is likely to aid debt
inflows into India.
The dollar-rupee pair is likely to trade with a “sell on
upticks” bias on Friday, said Apurva Swarup, vice president at
Shinhan Bank India.
Meanwhile, rupee forward premiums fell, with the 1-year
implied yield falling 3 bps to 1.82%.
Investors will now be keeping a keen eye on the U.S.
non-farm payrolls data, due later on Friday.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
