By Nimesh Vora
MUMBAI, April 24 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee rose
marginally to the U.S. dollar on Monday, while other Asian
currencies declined on weak risk appetite and a lower
probability of the U.S. Federal Reserve cutting rates later this
year.
The rupee was at 82.0650 to the dollar by 10:14
a.m. IST, compared with 82.09 in the previous session.
Meanwhile, the offshore Chinese yuan declined to 6.9125 to
the dollar, its lowest in almost a month, while the Korean won
dropped 0.6%. The dollar index rose to 101.80.
"There are no major indicators of a trend for the USD/INR,"
said Anindya Banerjee, head research - fx and interest rates.
"Unless some unforeseen trigger emerges ahead of the U.S.
Fed meeting next week, we could see rangebound price activity."
Asian currencies were on the defensive after a survey
published on Friday showed that U.S. business activity
accelerated to an 11-month high in April.
The positive data, at margin, allayed worries over the U.S.
economy and pointed to the possibility of the Fed raising rates
beyond the May meeting and not cutting rates later this year.
"While rate expectations have remained well-anchored thus
far, further data pointing to economic resilience could likely
brew speculations of another rate hike in June," said Yeap Jun
Rong, market strategist at IG Asia.
U.S. data due this week includes the March-quarter GDP and
will help traders gauge the direction of rates.
Most Asian equity gauges were lower on the day, while Indian
shares were almost flat. U.S. equity futures dipped.
Rupee forward premiums inched lower, with the 1-year implied
yield falling to 2.26%.
The near-maturity U.S. yields resuming their uptrend is
weighing on premiums, while public sector banks are capping the
downside, traders said.
(Reporting by Nimesh Vora; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
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