The Indian rupee closed at 90.95/$1 on Tuesday, pressured by maturing non-deliverable forwards and equity sales. The Reserve Bank of India intervened to prevent the currency from breaching the 91/$1 mark. A stronger dollar index and rising crude o...
By ET Bureau |
Agencies
Trader focus now turns to the ₹32,000-crore government bond auction in the 10-year paper scheduled on Friday. The last government bond auction for this fiscal year will be conducted on March 6.
Mumbai: The Indian rupee closed at 90.95/$1 on Tuesday, weighed down by positions maturing in the non-deliverable forwards market and a selling in Indian equities. The Reserve Bank of India supported the rupee to ensure the currency did not cross the 91/$1 mark. The rupee had closed at 90.88/$1 the previous day.
A stronger dollar index and a rise in crude oil prices added pressure on the rupee. The dollar index was at 98 on Tuesday, from 97.5 the previous day. Brent crude oil prices stood at $71.4 per barrel, from $69 per barrel last week.
"RBI positions are due to mature this week, which also caused an uptick in the dollar buying. Additionally, a broad risk off sentiment also boosted the dollar," said Anil Bhansali, head of treasury at Finrex Treasury Advisors.
The rupee opened at 90.92/$1 and traded in a narrow range of 90.97/$1 and 90.92/$1, with the central bank intervening to prevent the currency from weakening past the psychologically significant 91/$1 mark, traders said.
On the other hand, yields on the 10-year benchmark security closed at 6.67%, two basis points lower than its previous close on stronger-than-expected demand in the state bond auctions on Tuesday.
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Trader focus now turns to the ₹32,000-crore government bond auction in the 10-year paper scheduled on Friday. The last government bond auction for this fiscal year will be conducted on March 6.
