Currency Watch: Rupee opens weak, Asian currencies fall

The Indian rupee opened weak against the US dollar on April 28, amid oil prices near a three‑week high and a weaker tone across Asian currencies.

The domestic currency opened lower by 18 paise at 94.37 against the US dollar versus Monday’s close of 94.19.

The currency has steadily weakened from the high of around 92.70 hit 10 days ago, with oil-linked flows and hedging-related dollar demand chipping away at the positive sentiment created by the Reserve Bank of India’s measures to support the rupee.

According to Finrex, we have come to the end of the month and the month end demand could keep USD higher in the coming two days.

Exporters may sell near to 94.30 while importers can buy the dips that they get for intra-day covering of receivables and payables as rupee opens near to 94.30 levels this morning, Finrex added.

Asian currencies traded mostly lower in early Tuesday trade, with the Thai baht leading losses, followed by the Taiwan dollar, Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit, and Japanese yen. However, Indonesian Rupiah, South Korean Won were up marginally.

However, the dollar index inched up marginally in the early trade against the basket of currencies.