Rupee ends flat, forward premiums tick up as focus turns to US economic data

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

The rupee closed at 83.3150 against the U.S. dollar, barely changed from its close of 83.3225 in the previous session.

The dollar index was down 0.2% at 105.6, while Asian currencies slipped, pressured by an uptick in U.S. bond yields.

The Philippine peso fell 0.4% to lead losses, while the Japanese yen fell below 155 to the dollar for the first time since 1990.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was steady in Asian hours after rising 5 basis points to 4.65% on Wednesday.

The rupee had weakened earlier in the session but managed to hold above 83.40, which drew offers to sell dollars, a foreign exchange trader at a private bank said.

The local currency is likely to continue seeing «thin intra-day ranges» unless U.S. GDP or inflation data diverges meaningfully from expectations, the trader said.

Meanwhile, dollar-rupee forward premiums inched higher, with the 1-year implied yield up 2 basis points at 1.70%.

In the near term, the rupee is likely to see «sideways movement» between 83.20 and 83.50, said Dilip Parmar, a foreign exchange research analyst at HDFC Securities.

Investors now await U.S. GDP data for the January-March quarter later in the day for cues on the world's largest economy's growth momentum, which will influence expectations of when the Federal Reserve may begin to ease policy rates.

Economists polled by Reuters estimated that the U.S. economy grew 2.4% last quarter, down from 3.4% in the preceding period.