Mumbai: The rupee inched up 2 paise to end at 69.68 against the US dollar Wednesday ahead of the US Fed’s interest rate decision.
Hopes of a breakthrough in US-China trade talks and softening crude oil prices supported the local unit, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange (forex) market, the domestic currency opened at 69.57 to a dollar and gained further strength to touch a high of 69.49 during the day. However, it could not hold on to the gains and finally ended at 69.68, up 2 paise over its previous close. The rupee had settled at 69.70 against the US dollar Tuesday.
“The Fed is widely expected to stand pat on monetary policy this time but open the door for an interest rate cut at the next meeting in July,” said V K Sharma, Head PCG and Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC Securities.
Meanwhile, the 10-year government bond yield rose to 6.84 per cent Wednesday. “The benchmark 10-year sovereign bond yield rose 3 bps to 6.84 per cent after slumping 12 bps on Tuesday to its lowest level since October 2017, amid reports that a panel may recommend transferring one-third of the RBI’s surplus reserves to the government,” Sharma added. (PTI)
