Rupee falls, tracking broad dollar rally; flows limit fall

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

By Swati Bhat

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee weakened on Monday after a robust monthly U.S. employment data sparked a global rally in the dollar and raised worries that any earlier-than-expected hike in U.S. interest rates could dent foreign flows to emerging markets.

Data on Friday showed U.S. employers added the largest number of workers in nearly three years in November, a sign of economic strength that was seen as potentially pushing the Federal Reserve towards a rate hike in mid-2015.

Foreign investors have been key backers of the rally in domestic shares and bonds this year, making them critical for the outlook for domestic markets.

The rupee was also weighed down after shares posted their biggest falls in 7-1/2 weeks and after some founders of Infosys Ltd sold shares worth $1.1 billion in India's second-largest IT services exporter.

"The USD strengthening across the board weighed but there were good inflows to help limit rupee's fall. There was also some profit-taking seen in stocks after the Infosys share sale, which also hurt the rupee," said Hari Chandramgethen, head of forex trading at South Indian Bank.

The partially convertible rupee closed weaker at 61.83/84 per dollar, down 0.1 percent from its Friday's close of 61.77/78.

Traders said the rupee would remain in a tight range ahead of retail inflation and industrial production data due on Friday evening.

In the offshore non-deliverable forwards, the one-month contract was at 62.16, while the three-month was at 62.76.

(Reporting by Swati Bhat; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)