Rupee opens 6 paise down at 71.34 against dollar

The rupee on Monday opened nearly 6 paise down at 71.34 per dollar due to some buying in American currency by banks and importers.

The local currency on Friday slid by over 30 paise against the US dollar after Moody’s Investors Services cut India’s rating outlook to negative citing growth concerns.

The agency said its action partly reflected government and policy ineffectiveness in addressing economic weakness, which in turn led to an increase in debt burden from already high levels.


This week, market participants will be keeping an eye on inflation and industrial production number to gauge a view for the currency. An uptick inflation and drop in growth of industrial production could further weigh on the rupee.

“Today, USDINR pair is expected to quote in the range of 71.20 and 71.70,” brokerage firm Motilal Oswal Financial Services said.

Dollar rose against its major crosses, on Friday, after US President said that he did not agree to rollbacks of US tariffs sought by China, sparking fresh doubts over the ongoing trade talks between the two major economies.

Officials from both countries on Thursday said that China and US had agreed to roll back tariffs on each others’ goods in a “phase one” trade deal.

“Today, volatility of dollar could be confined to a narrow range as no major economic data is expected to be released,” Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a report.