By Jaspreet Kalra
MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Indian rupee was nearly unchanged on Monday as likely intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) helped offset pressure driven by weakness in local equities, which have borne the brunt of sustained foreign portfolio outflows this quarter.
The rupee was at 84.3875 against the U.S. dollar as of 10:00 a.m. IST, barely changed from its close at 84.3950 on Thursday. Indian financial markets were shut on Friday for a local holiday.
State-run banks were spotted offering dollars near 84.40 levels, most likely on behalf of the RBI, traders said.
A surge in the dollar, elevated U.S. bond yields and sustained foreign portfolio outflows have put pressure on the rupee since October, but the currency has been supported by routine central bank interventions.
Foreign investors have pulled out over $3 billion from local stocks and debt so far in November, adding to $11.4 billion in outflows last month, according to stock depository data.
On the day, the benchmark BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 indexes were down 0.4% each.
Asian currencies were mostly higher on Monday, with the Thai baht up 0.2% and leading gains, while the dollar index was at 106.7 after pulling back from a yearly peak of 107.07 hit last week.
Expectations of slower U.S. interest rate cuts, signalled by the Federal Reserve Chair and other policymakers last week, have also supported the dollar and U.S. bond yields.
Most analysts expect President-elect Trump’s policies to be inflationary, limiting the scope for further rate cuts by the Fed.
The dollar index could “correct lower if the Trump Trade loses momentum,” analysts at DBS Bank said in a note.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
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