MUMBAI, Oct 9 (Reuters) – The Indian rupee rose slightly on Wednesday, comforted by a decline in oil prices and gains in most of its regional peers, while traders awaited the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy decision.
The rupee was at 83.9275 as of 09:30 a.m. IST, compared to its previous close at 83.9625.
Other Asian currencies were mostly higher, with the Thai baht up 0.6% and leading gains, while the dollar index was little changed at 102.5.
Despite the supportive global cues, traders expect the rupee’s gains to be shallow given the persistent outflows from local equities. Overseas investors have net sold about $6.5 billion of shares over the last six trading sessions.
Focus for Wednesday’s session will be on the RBI’s monetary policy decision due at 10:00 a.m. IST.
“There’s a good chance that the central bank may strike a less hawkish tone and change its policy stance to neutral, with a view to eventually cut rates in December,” MUFG Bank said in a note.
Remarks from a slew of Federal Reserve policymakers alongside the minutes of the Fed’s latest meeting will also be in focus later in the day for cues on the future path of Fed policy rates.
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Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Varun H K
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