Gold Silver Reports (GSR) – Indian rupee on Tuesday turned positive for 2019 against US dollar as foreign investors continued to buy in equities and debt ahead of general elections. At 9.15 am, the rupee was trading at 69.71 a dollar, up 0.24% from its previous close of 69.89. The home currency opened at 69.75 a dollar and touched a high of 69.69.
So far this year, rupee has gained 0.15%. Since the start of the March, foreign investors have bought Indian equities worth $833.26 million and debt worth $586 million respectively.
Year to date, foreign institutional investors have bought Indian equities worth $3.13 billion and sold $1 billion in debt market.
Traders will now watch consumer price inflation data for February to cement a growing possibility of a rate cut in the April monetary policy. CPI probably quickened to 2.4% year on year last month from 2.05% in January, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.
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The 10-year bond yield was trading at 7.361%, as compared to its Monday’s close of 7.35%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
India’s benchmark index Sensex rose 0.53% to 37249.65 points in pre-open trade. Year to date, it rose 3%.
Asian currencies were trading higher. South Korean won was up 0.54%, Indonesian rupiah 0.28%, China Offshore 0.23%, China renminbi 0.22%, Malaysian ringgit 0.22%, Singapore dollar 0.15%. However, Philippines peso was down 0.22%, Japanese yen 0.14%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 97.033, down 0.19% from its previous close of 97.215.
