Rupee sees biggest loss against US dollar in 2017

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Tuesday weakened against the US dollar, tracking the losses in Asian currencies markets pushing the currency to its biggest loss for the calendar year.

Rupee closed at 64.63 a dollar, down 0.50% from its Monday’s close of 64.31. The rupee opened at 64.42 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.42 and 64.70, respectively.

The benchmark Sensex index rose 0.02% or 7.10 points to close at 29,933.25. So far this year, it has risen 12.42%.

So far this year, the rupee has gained 5.1%, while foreign investors bought $6.14 billion and $8.19 billion in local equity and debt markets, respectively.

The 10-year bond yield closed at 6.943% compared to its previous close of 6.93%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Asian currencies were trading lower. South Korean won was down 0.684%, Japanese yen 0.509%, Indonesian rupiah 0.427%, Taiwan dollar 0.33%, Thai baht 0.288%, Singapore dollar 0.340%, Malaysian ringgit 0.258%, Philippines peso 0.150%, China Offshore 0.069%, China Renminbi lower 0.030% and Hong Kong dollar was down 0.001%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 99.417, up 0.36% from its previous close of 99.06.