MUMBAI, Sept 9 (Askume) – The Indian rupee was little changed on Monday, as weak risk appetite from dollar selling by foreign banks offset losses among Asian peers and as investors awaited a possible U.S. interest rate cut.
The rupee closed at 83.9550 against the US dollar, almost unchanged from Friday’s 83.9475.
Moderate dollar selling by foreign banks supported the local currency, while overall trading activity remained relatively low, a senior trader at a foreign bank said.
Regular intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to keep the rupee above the 84 level also made traders wary of betting on further weakness in the rupee.
Concerns about US economic growth prospects after a mixed jobs report on Friday weighed on Asian currencies, which fell 0.1% to 0.9%.
The US dollar index rose 0.3% to 101.5.
The jobs report showed that the US economy created fewer jobs than expected in August, but the unemployment rate fell to 4.2%.
Charu Chanana, head of FX strategy at Saxo Bank, said in a note that attention has turned to the US presidential debate on September 10, which “could raise concerns about upcoming election changes.”
“The policy plans of both candidates are unlikely to indicate measures to rein in the rising fiscal deficit, which could be slightly positive for the dollar,” Chanana said.
The focus this week will also be on US consumer inflation data due on Wednesday.
The data is expected to influence investors’ bets on whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 or 50 basis points next week.
