By Anushka Trivedi
MUMBAI, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee ended flat
on Monday, as the choppiness in equity markets soured the mood
at the beginning of a week packed with the domestic Union budget
and global central bank meetings.
Having moved in a narrow band throughout the session, the
partially convertible rupee finished at 81.4950 per
U.S. dollar, compared to its previous close of 81.5225.
There were corporate dollar inflows in the latter half of
the session, otherwise, the day was fairly quiet, said a private
bank trader.
The mood was sombre amid volatility in Indian stock markets , following a two-day selloff fuelled by a U.S.
short-seller's report on the Adani Group flagging concerns about
the conglomerate's debt levels and its use of tax havens. In the short-term, typically, incidents like these make
investors question a range of similar companies, said Rob
Carnell, head of ING's Asia-Pacific research.
"It's entirely possible that we may see capital outflows and
that could weigh on the rupee for a bit."
Foreign investors have been net sellers of more than $700
million of Indian equities on Friday, according to preliminary
exchange data.
Investors will be keeping tabs on key events such as India's
budget and the U.S. Federal Reserve policy decision, both due on
Feb. 1, followed by central bank meetings in Europe and England.
Alongside the Indian government's fiscal stance, forex
traders will watch the budget for any incentives to entice
foreign investments and any update on the inclusion of domestic
bonds in global indices, analysts said.
Given the number of risk events this week, the rupee could
trade in a broad 81-82 per dollar range, HDFC Bank economists
wrote in a note.
(Reporting by Anushka Trivedi; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
anushka.trivedi.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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