Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Monday erased all the morning losses and closed marginally higher against the US dollar.

The home currency closed at 68.10 a dollar, up 0.09% from Friday’s close of 68.16. The rupee opened at 68.24 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 68.27 and 68.09, respectively. So far this year, it has fallen 0.02%.

India’s benchmark Sensex index closed at 27,288.17 points, up 0.18% or 50.11 from its previous close. So far this year, it has gained 2.5%.

India’s wholesale price inflation accelerated to 3.39% in December as compared to 3.15% for the previous month.

India’s merchandise exports rose 5.72% to $23.88 billion and imports rose by just 0.46% to $34.25 billion in December. Trade deficit narrowed to $10.36 billion from $11.50 billion a year ago and $13.01 billion a month ago.

The 10-year bond yield closed at 6.441%, compared to Friday’s close of 6.417%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

So far this year, foreign institutional investors have sold $459.40 million in equity and bought $33.8 million in debt.

Asian currencies were trading lower as investors sold risk assets on concerns over a hard Brexit landing and tension between US President-elect Donald Trump and the Chinese government.

Philippines peso was down 0.65%, South Korean won 0.6%, Taiwan dollar 0.34%, China offshore 0.23%, Indonesian rupiah 0.18%, Singapore dollar 0.13%, Malaysian ringgit 0.09%. However, Japanese yen was up 0.25%.

The pound slid below $1.20 for the first time since October’s flash crash, after reports that UK Prime Minister Theresa May will signal plans to quit the European Union’s single market to regain control of Britain’s borders and laws, Bloomberg reported.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 101.59, up 0.41% from its previous close of 101.18.

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