Rupee opened higher, Dollar little changed vs. major currencies

Friday,   23-Feb-2018   09:04 AM (IST)

The Indian rupee opened the day higher at 64.95/96 levels compared to its previous close at 65.04/05 levels tracking gains in its Asian peers. Indian government bonds turn higher in thin trading, even as most traders stay on sidelines amid lack of fresh triggers. The domestic indices are trading higher today despite lack of any major cues in the domestic and global markets. As per the technical indicators range for the USDINR pair may be 64.70-65.20 levels. Rupee has an immediate support at 65.07 levels. A breach of the same may see rupee at 65.17 followed by 65.23 levels. On the positive side rupee is likely to face resistance at 64.84 levels and if it is able to break the same then it may gain up to 64.76 levels followed by 64.67 levels.

The dollar sagged broadly on Friday after its recovery this week faded as U.S. Treasury yields declined from their recent peaks. The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was little changed at 89.815. The index had reached a 10-day high of 90.235 on Thursday, from a three-year trough of 88.253 late last week, before its rally ran out of steam. It was on still on track to gain 0.7 percent on the week. Benchmark 10-year note yields were last yielding 2.926 percent, after rising to a four-year high of 2.957 percent on Wednesday. The yen tends to be bought in times of market volatility, thanks to its perceived status as a safe haven currency. The yen showed little reaction to data which showed Japan's annual core consumer inflation rate unchanged in January from the previous month, suggesting the Bank of Japan remains distant from exiting its super loose monetary policy. Japan's nationwide core consumer price index, which includes oil products but excludes volatile fresh food costs rose 0.9 percent in January. The pace remained far from the BOJ's 2 percent inflation target.