The rupee ended weaker at 54.48 against the dollar as the American currency strengthened against the world’s major currencies on the back of strong employment data. “The weakness in the rupee was on account of weak euro and a recovery in the dollar index after better jobs data was released on Friday. “Positive set of US data and poor economic reports from Europe are restricting the gains in the rupee,” Abhishek Goenka, Founder & CEO, India Forex Advisors said. The Indian unit opened stronger at 54.35 against the dollar on positive domestic and Asian equity markets. On Friday, it had closed lower at 54.47.
The euro remained under pressure due to the prospect of a recession in Germany and political uncertainty in Italy, Reuters said. This could leave some negative impact on the rupee. “The euro was trading near 1.29 levels taking cues from poor industrial production data from Italy and France,” Goenka added. Further, dollar demand from banks and importers might keep the rupee under pressure.
Call, bond rates dip
Amid ample liquidity, the inter-bank call rates touched a low of 7.60 per cent. The call rates opened higher at 8.10 per cent (from Friday’s close of 8 per cent) and closed at 7.90 per cent. The 10-year benchmark 8.15 per cent government security (G-Sec), which matures in 2022, closed at Rs 99.86 with a yield of 8.17 per cent.
On Friday, the security had not registered a single trade because of a shut period announced on the G-Sec by the Reserve Bank of India.