MUMBAI: The Indian rupee was little changed to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday morning as traders gauged the near-term trend after the local unit suffered its worst day in almost two months in the previous session.
The rupee was quoted at 82.04 per dollar by 10:10 a.m. IST and has held a range of 81.9650 to 82.0650 so far.
The currency weakened 0.29% to 82.0375 on Tuesday, pressured by stop losses and dollar demand from importers, according to traders.
Indian Rupee ends little changed on likely dollar buying by RBI
“Although an increase in volatility is to be welcomed, the sustainability of the trend is considerably more crucial,” said Anindya Banerjee, head of research, fx and interest rates, Kotak Securities.
“The USD/INR has been in a downtrend since early March but has been unable to maintain an upward trend. Today, we need to see follow-through action. The U.S. inflation report tonight is a crucial piece of economic data.”
Economists polled by Reuters estimate the U.S. core inflation rose 0.4% month-on-month in April, matching the pace in March. The headline inflation rate is expected to have risen 5% on-year.
The data comes a week after the Federal Reserve left the door open to pausing its tightening cycle. Interest rate futures are currently pricing in a near 80% probability of a pause in June.
“The upside surprises in the U.S. job report last week have failed to drive much of a change in rate expectations, suggesting that it could have to take a significant pull-ahead in inflation readings to alter market expectations for an upcoming rate pause, along with 75 basis-point rate cuts by the end of the year,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at broker IG Asia.
Asian currencies were mostly rangebound, while equities were lower. The dollar index was hovering just above 101.50.
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