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29-11-2023 09:43 AM | Source: Reuters
Rupee stands pat; equity flows, US data watched

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The Indian rupee was unresponsive to strength in its Asian peers on Tuesday and hovered in a tight range to kick off the last trading week of November.

The rupee was at 83.3825 as of 10:35 a.m. IST, little changed from its close at 83.3675 on Friday. Indian markets were shut on Monday on account of a local holiday.

The dollar index last quoted at 103.15, hovering close to its weakest level in nearly 3 months after slipping overnight following weaker-than-expected home sales data in the United States.

The 10-year U.S. treasury yield fell to a low of 4.38% in New York on Monday and last quoted slightly higher in Asia. Asian currencies climbed with the Korean won leading gains.

The rupee is unlikely to see much movement until the release of U.S. inflation data later this week, a foreign exchange trader at a private bank said.

Equity-related inflows and month-end exporter dollar sales may offer some support to the rupee, the trader added.

MSCI increasing India's weight in its Emerging Market India index, effective from Nov. 30, is expected to drive inflows of about $1.5 billion, according to Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research.

Market participants will be keeping an eye on the OPEC+ meeting and U.S. inflation data to assess the overall weakness in the dollar, said Arnob Biswas, head of foreign exchange research at SMC Global Securities.

The U.S. will report personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation data for October on Thursday. Core PCE inflation is expected to moderate to 0.2% month-on-month, down from 0.3% in September, according to a Reuters poll.

A weaker-than-expected inflation print could cement bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve is done hiking policy rates.