Rupee trades marginally lower against US dollar

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Wednesday weakened marginally against the US dollar after the Reserve Bank of India kept key policy rates unchanged. The central bank also retained its neutral stance on the monetary policy.

At 2.40pm, the home currency was trading at 64.46 a dollar, down 0.11% from its Tuesday’s close of 64.38. The rupee opened at 64.47 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.39 and 64.50, respectively.

“The decision of the MPC is consistent with a neutral stance of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium -term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4% within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth”, RBI said in a statement.

All 15 economists surveyed expect the central bank’s monetary policy committee to keep the key repo rate—the rate at which it infuses liquidity in the banking system—unchanged at 6%.

The benchmark Sensex fell 0.36%, or 118.77 points, to 32683.67. So far this year, it has gained 23.45%.

The 10-year bond yield was at 7.049%, compared to its previous close of 7.061%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

So far this year, the rupee has gained 5.5%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $8.75 billion and $22.59 billion in equity and debt, respectively.

Asian currencies were trading lower. South Korean won was down 0.69%, Malaysian ringgit 0.17%, Indonesian rupiah 0.16%, Philippines peso 0.14%, Singapore dollar 0.08%, China offshore 0.04%. However, Japanese yen was up 0.35%, China renminbi 0.07%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 93.366, down 0.01%, from its previous close of 93.379.