By Jaspreet Kalra
MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Indian rupee slipped to its all-time low on Friday before turning course to end modestly higher, aided by likely dollar inflows, although its losing steak persisted into a seventh straight week.
The rupee closed at 85.0150 against the U.S. dollar, up from its close at 85.07 in the previous session, after hitting a low of 85.10 earlier in the session. The currency declined 0.2% week-on-week.
Intervention by the Reserve Bank of India supported the rupee early in the day, traders said, and it was also aided by strong dollar offers from foreign banks in the latter half of the session, likely related to the rebalancing of FTSE’s equity index.
Routine interventions by the central bank curbed sharp depreciation pressure on the rupee this week as it weakened below the psychologically important 85 level.
Tepid capital flows and concerns about India’s slowing economic growth have hurt the rupee and its troubles were compounded by a hawkish shift in the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook on Wednesday.
On the day, the dollar index was down 0.2% at 108.2, retreating from an over two-year high, while other Asian currencies were mixed as investors awaited U.S. personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation data due later in the day.
Focus on the print was heightened after the Fed in its policy decision scaled back its 2025 rate cut projections to 50 basis points from 100 bps forecasted in September, pointing to stubbornly high inflation.
The data is likely to show that month-on-month core PCE inflation was at 0.2% month-on-month in November, down from 0.3% in the previous month.
“The prospects certainly remain positive for the US dollar over the short-term as investors continue to view the US economy as best positioned going into 2025 for continued resilient growth,” MUFG Bank said in a note.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Varun H K)
