Rupee opens lower at 59.33 per dollar

Rupee opens lower at 59.33 per dollar

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Wednesday opened marginally lower against the dollar tracking mixed cues in the Asian currencies market.

The local currency opened at 59.33 per dollar against its Tuesday’s close of 59.3.

Financial markets are cautious ahead of the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation data for May and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for April due on 12 June, dealers said.

Traders were also awaiting the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation data for May, due on 16 June, for more cues.

Bloomberg estimates that CPI for May will be 8.4% as compared with 8.59% in April, while IIP will grow 2% for April compared with a 0.5% decline in March. Inflation based on the WPI will be 5.3% for May compared with 5.2% in April, according to estimates.

Asian currencies were trading mixed. The Japanese yen was trading up 0.11%, Indonesian rupiah was up 0.1%, Singapore dollar was trading down 0.06% and Malaysian ringgit was down 0.04%.

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has gained 4.16%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $9.09 billion from local equity markets.

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 8.58%, compared with its Tuesday’s close of 8.56%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

At 9.12am, the rupee was trading at 59.34 per dollar, down 0.05% from its previous close, while India’s equity benchmark Sensex index was trading at 25,583.69 points on BSE, down 0.01%.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 80.86, up 0.06% from the previous close of 80.82.