Indian Rupee: All Eyes On RBI

5 Aug 2022 , 09:14 AM

The Indian rupee is expected to stay cautious in opening trades on Friday, ahead of crucial RBI monetary policy. The Reserve Bank of Indias rate-setting panel on Wednesday (3 August) began its three-day deliberations on the next bi-monthly monetary policy. The Monetary Policy Committee is scheduled to announce its decision today, 5 August 2022. While a 25 bps hike is ruled out, market opinions are reportedly split between a 35 bps hike and a 50 bps hike. Meanwhile, dollar index that measures the greenback against a basket of currencies is up 0.17% at 105.74. On Thursday, rupee depreciated 17 paise to close at 79.32 against the US dollar, weighed down by disappointing macroeconomic data and US-China tensions. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 79.21 and finally ended at 79.32, down 17 paise over its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee had slumped by 62 paise to close at 79.15, marking its worst single-day fall in the current fiscal year. The key equity barometers ended near the flat line after a volatile session on Thursday, snapping a six-day rising streak. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 51.73 points or 0.09% to 58,298.80. The Nifty 50 index declined 6.15 points or 0.04% to 17,382. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,474.77 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 46.79 crore in the Indian equity market on 4 August, provisional data showed. Overseas, Asian stocks are trading higher Friday as investors look ahead to the Reserve Bank of Indias interest rate decision and the U.S. jobs report. Wall Street stocks ended mixed, with gains for high-growth stocks offset by the drag from energy shares, as a key US jobs report loomed on Friday. The Bank of England (BoE) has hiked UK interest rates by 50 basis points to 1.75% as it looks to combat runaway inflation. Interest rates are now at their highest level since December 2008. Powered by Commodity Insights