Rupee weakens for fourth session against US dollar

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Tuesday weakened for the fourth consecutive session against the US dollar after local equity markets fell for the fifth session.

The rupee opened at 65.24 a dollar and touched a low of 65.24. At 9.15am, the home currency was trading at 65.21 a dollar, down 0.07% from its Monday’s close of 65.18.

Benchmark Sensex index fell 0.13%, or 42.32 points, to 32,880.80. So far this year, it has declined 3.3%.

The US Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday with new chairman Jerome Powell giving his first press conference. Market expectations for a March rate hike were at 94.4% as of Monday morning, according to a Reuters report.

The 10-year bond yield was at 7.593% compared to its previous close of 7.607%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

So far this year, the rupee fell 2%, while foreign investors have bought $1.52 billion in equity and sold $404.60 million in debt market.

Asian currencies were trading higher. Singapore dollar was up 0.17%, South Korean won 0.1%, Thai baht 0.09%, China renminbi 0.08%, Taiwan dollar 0.08%, Malaysian ringgit 0.07%. However, Philippines peso was down 0.16% and Japanese yen 0.14%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 89.886, up 0.13% from its previous close of 89.765.