Rupee closes up marginally against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee on Friday strengthened against the US dollar on improvement in trade deficit data. Gains in the local equity and Asian currencies markets also helped the currency.

The rupee closed at 66.985 per dollar, up 0.06% from its previous close of 67.03. The domestic currency opened at 66.87 per dollar and touched a high and a low of 66.84 and 67.0325, respectively.

India’s benchmark Sensex rose 186.14 points, or 0.66%, to close at 28,599.03. So far this year, it has gained 9.5%.

India’s merchandise exports contracted by 0.3% from a year ago to $21.5 billion in August, while imports shrank 14.1% to $29.2 billion. Trade deficit fell to $7.67 billion against $12.40 billion a year ago and $7.76 billion a month ago.

The current account is likely to swing to a $3.3 billion surplus in the April-June quarter, its first since 2007, according to the median of 10 economist estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The data is expected to be released by the Reserve Bank of India in September.

Asian currencies were trading higher after weak US data reduced the already low chance of an interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve at next week’s meeting.

US August retail sales and manufacturing output fell more than expected, according to data released on Thursday. The lacklustre reports prompted the Atlanta Fed to lower its third-quarter gross domestic product estimate to a 3% annual rate, from 3.3% earlier, Reuters reported.

The Taiwanese dollar was up 0.55%, South Korean won 0.48%, Japanese yen 0.22%, Malaysian ringgit 0.17%, Indonesian rupiah 0.15% and Chinese renminbi 0.07%. However, the Philippines peso was down 0.18%,Thai baht 0.14% and Singapore dollar 0.07%.

The 10-year bond yield stood at 6.868% compared with Thursday’s close of 6.883%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The rupee is down 1.24% till date this year, while foreign institutional investors have bought $6.24 billion in equity and sold $564 million in debt markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 95.493, up 0.22% from its previous close of 95.288.