The rupee settled at 70.1450 against 69.70 at the previous close. The
local unit moved in 69.7225‐70.3150 per dollar band intra-day.
The Indian rupee recorded its biggest weekly rise in more than five
years against the dollar, tracking the slump in crude oil prices which
eased concerns of widening of trade gap at home, while the U.S.
Federal Reserve lowered its rate hike outlook. Falling crude oil prices
are a game changer for India’s external sector. We expect the dollar
rates to stay stable as the Federal Reserve adopts a more dovish
stance and markets starts aggressively paring down expectations of
further hikes.
Global Currency
The dollar languished close to one‐month lows on Friday, seemingly
pressured by year‐end positioning with financial markets whipsawed
by a collapse in oil prices, sell‐off in equities and a threat of a U.S.
government shutdown. The safe‐haven Japanese yen benefited from
the brittle sentiment. he dollar index against a basket of six major
currencies stood at 96.421 after falling to 96.168 overnight.
EUR/USD has posted slight losses in the Friday session. Currently, the
pair is trading at 1.1422, down 0.20% on the day. On the release
front, German GfK Consumer Confidence remained pegged at 10.4,
edging above the estimate of 10.3 points.
Global Markets
Oil prices bounced higher in overnight trade as OPEC said it would
make deeper‐than‐expected quotas of its output cuts public,
optimism faded in early morning trade on Friday as crude headed for
the largest weekly decline in a month.
Gold prices fell on Friday in Asia as the U.S. dollar recovered. Gold
Futures for February delivery slipped 0.45% to $1,262.25 on the
Comex exchange, while the U.S. dollar index, tracking the dollar
against a basket of six currencies, gained 0.2% to 95.938.
