The
Indian rupee extended its previous day gains on Wednesday, July 17,
2013 following measures by the RBI to curb volatility in the currency.
Besides, positive local shares also supported the unit. The domestic
currency opened higher by 18 paise at Rs 59.14 to a dollar and slipped
to a low of 59.22 before edging back to a high of 59.10 so far during
the day. In the spot currency market, the Indian unit was last seen
trading at 59.17, stronger by almost 16 paise or 0.26% as compared to
previous close at 59.32.
Indian government bonds slumped and interest
rate swaps surged on Tuesday, while the rupee posted modest gains after
the central bank took steps to rein in rupee liquidity, in a move that
will raise interest rates in the economy. The RBI pushed up the rate at
which it lends money to banks by 200 basis points to 10.25 per cent. The
marginal standing facility, which is the rate at which banks borrow
additional funds from the RBI, will now be at 10.25 per cent. Bonds and
stocks plunged. The RBI also said that it will conduct Open Market Sales
of Government of India Securities of Rs 12000 crore on Thursday, 18
July 2013. The RBI said it will continue to closely monitor the markets,
the liquidity situation and the macroeconomic developments and will
take such other measures as may be necessary, consistent with the
growth-inflation dynamics and macroeconomic stability.
India will
fully and safely fund its current account deficit this fiscal year
without depleting its forex reserves, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram
said on Tuesday. The deficit hit 4.8 percent of GDP in the previous
fiscal year that ended in March. Chidambaram said he was confident of
keeping the current account gap below last year's levels with some stern
steps.
Meanwhile, domestic key benchmark indices edged higher in
early trade boosted by government's decision on Tuesday, to relax
overseas-investment rules for a number of sectors and as Asian shares
inched higher. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Indian shares
worth a net Rs 357.40 crore on Tuesday, 16 July 2013, as per
provisional data from the stock exchanges. At the time of writing, the
S&P BSE Sensex was up 71.83 points or 0.36% to 19,923.06 while the
CNX Nifty was up 18.25 points or 0.31% to 5,973.50.
The dollar
held a three-week low on expectations Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke will reiterate later in the day that U.S. monetary policy is to
stay accommodative. The dollar stayed on the defensive in early Asian
trade on Wednesday as investors suffered a case of cold feet ahead of
Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke's semi-annual testimony in Congress later
in the day. The euro rose to 1.31 to the dollar. The dollar index
slipped below the 83 mark ahead of testimony by Federal Reserve Chief
Ben Bernanke.
Source by Commodity Insights