Rupee gains, USDJPY higher

Monday,   17-Dec-2018   12:22 PM (IST)

The Indian rupee gains and is currently trading at 71.6575/6675 levels in the afternoon deals supported by lower global crude oil prices and narrowing trade deficit at home. Data released after local market hours on Dec. 14 showed India’s trade deficit stood at $16.7 billion in November, narrowing from $17.1 billion in the prior month. So far rupee traded in the range of 71.6575-71.86 levels. Benchmark indices are trading in the positive territory. At 12:15 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 36,233, up 270 points while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 10,866, up 60 points. As per the technical indicators, range for USDINR pair for the remaining part of the day may be 71.40 -72.10 levels. Rupee has an immediate support at 71.79 levels. A breach of the same may see rupee at 71.93 followed by 72.00 and 72.07 levels. On the positive side rupee is likely to face resistance at 71.59 levels and if it is able to break the same then it may gain up to 71.52 levels followed by 71.38 and 71.26 levels. In the forward segment 1mth, 3mth and 6mth annualized premia are currently trading at 3.90%, 3.82% and 3.94% respectively.

Forex today experienced a quiet start to a Big week ahead, with no relevant macro news out of the Asia-pac regions and hence, most majors stuck to tight trading ranges. The US dollar consolidated around 97.50 against its major peers, with the 19-month tops still on sight amid looming trade and global economic slowdown worries. The USD/JPY pair staged a solid comeback and regained the 113.50 handle amid positive Japanese equities and S&P 500 futures. Meanwhile, the Antipodeans traded on the back foot, despite a rally in iron-ore futures, as markets remained cautious ahead of this week’s Fed rate hike. Both crude benchmarks traded a tad firmer while gold futures on Comex moved-off 10-day lows, but treaded water near 1241 levels amid higher Treasury yields.