Rupee ends flat at 69.26 a dollar ahead of RBI policy decision

The Indian rupee Tuesday settled unchanged at 69.26 against the US dollar in a lacklustre trade as participants preferred to sit on the fence ahead of the RBI monetary policy outcome on Thursday.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened strong at 69.10 and went on to touch the day's high of 69.00 to the US dollar. The local currency, however, failed to sustain the gain and slipped to a low of 69.34 in intra-day deals.

The domestic currency finally closed at 69.26 against the US dollar, unchanged from its last closing.

"Market is already pricing the 25 bps cut in interest rate amid slower economic growth while inflation remains below target level of 4 per cent," V K Sharma, Head PCG & Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC Securities, said.

The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is slated to announce its bi-monthly policy on Thursday.

Indian bonds and Forex markets will remain closed on Wednesday on account of Id-Ul-Fitr.

Forex traders said while easing crude oil prices supported the rupee, heavy selling in domestic equities and foreign fund outflows weighed pressure on the local unit.

Foreign funds pulled out Rs 416.08 crore in the capital markets on a net basis Tuesday, provisional data showed.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.02 per cent to 97.12.

Meanwhile, the 10-year government bond yield was at 7.02 per cent on Tuesday, against the previous close of 7.03 per cent on Monday.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.19 per cent to trade at USD 60.55 per barrel.

The BSE benchmark Sensex Tuesday retreated from its peak level to end 184 points lower as investors resorted to profit taking at higher valuation. The broader Nifty too came off life-time highs to settle 67 points down.

The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 69.4338 and for rupee/euro at 77.5622. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 87.7143 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 64.13.