georgemiller
Publish Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2024, 05:39 AM

MUMBAI, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee was hovering near its all-time low on Wednesday, wedged between weakness in local equities and dollar sales by state-run banks.
The rupee was at 84.4050 as of 10:45 a.m. IST, nearly unchanged from its close at 84.3925 in the previous session. The currency declined to a record low of 84.4125 on Tuesday.
Most Asian currencies rose, with the Chinese yuan up 0.1% aided by firmer-than-expected official guidance by the Chinese central bank.
The dollar index was hovering just shy of the 106-handle after hitting an over six-month high boosted by a rise in U.S. bond yields as investors continued to price in U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's policies of lower taxes and trade tariffs.
The rupee has slumped to record lows for the last five trading sessions, pressured by a rally in the dollar index and persistent outflows from local equities.
India equity markets "have witnessed strong foreign portfolio outflows on high valuation concerns, softening corporate earnings and a portfolio rebalancing push," DBS Bank said in a note.
Foreign investors have net sold about $3 billion of Indian stocks over November so far, adding to previous month's $11 billion outflows. Indian equity indexes have fallen over 9% since their peak in late September.
While the rupee has remained under pressure for more than a month, routine interventions by the central bank have ensured a gradual decline and kept volatility muted, a senior trader at a foreign bank said.
The Indian currency is down 0.4% so far in November, outperforming most regional peers.
Investors await U.S. consumer inflation due later in the day to gauge the future path of the Federal Reserve's policy rates.
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https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/rupee-pinned-near-record-low-state-run-banks-dollar-sales-cap-weakness-2024-11-13/