Currency Buzz: INR Slides In Line With Muted Equities; Firm Dollar

17 Nov 2022 , 05:02 PM

The Indian rupee tracked domestic equity benchmark indices that fell in line with weak global market trends. Besides, strength of the American currency in the overseas markets also weighed down the local unit. INR depreciated by 37 paise to close at 81.63 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 81.62 and later witnessed an intraday high of 81.45 and a low of 81.68 during the session. The greenback gained strength overnight supported by stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales data. US Retail Sales growth rose by 1.3% on month in October versus 1.0% expected and 0.0% prior. Dollar firmed up, tracking benchmark US 10-year Treasury yields that rose 1.2 basis points (bps) to 3.70%. Further, the global currency was supported yesterday on comments from San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly that pausing the hiking cycle is off the table, and the U.S. central banks policy rate could end up in the 4.75%-5.25% range, up from the current range of 3.75%-4%. The dollar index that measures the greenback against a basket of currencies was at 106.14, down 0.1% on the day, but holding above the three-month low of 105.16 earlier in the week. Powered by Commodity Insights