Rupee trades lower at 66.74 against US dollar

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Thursday weakened against the US dollar after local equity markets fell over 200 points. The fall in Asian currencies also dampened the sentiment.

At 2pm, the home currency was trading at 66.74 against the dollar, down 0.13% from its previous close of 66.65. The rupee opened at 66.59 and touched a high of 66.55, a level last seen on 12 May.India’s equity benchmark index Sensex fell 0.76% or 205.14 points to 26,815.52 points. So far this year, Sensex has gained 3%.

Most Asian currencies were trading lower. Singapore dollar was down 0.32%, Taiwan dollar 0.16%, Thai baht 0.15% and Indonesian rupiah 0.07%. However, the Japanese yen was up 0.64%, Malaysian ringgit 0.35% and South Korean won 0.08%.

The government will release the April factory output data on 10 June. According to a Bloomberg analyst poll, the factory output will shrink 0.6% in April, against a 0.1% rise in March. The consumer price inflation and wholesale price inflation data will be out on 13 May and 14 May respectively.

Traders are cautious as the US Federal Reserve officials will meet on 14-15 June to discuss policy.

Meanwhile, India’s 10-year bond yield was trading at 7.489%, as compared with its Wednesday’s close of 7.49%.

So far this year, the rupee has weakened 1%, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have bought $2.66 billion from the local equity market and sold $1.25 billion in debt markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 93.651, up 0.07% from its previous close of 93.59.