Rupee hovers near 84 against dollar on dip in peers, tepid local equities

The Indian rupee hovered close to a key level on Thursday as its Asian peers declined and local stocks remained under pressure in the backdrop of a foreign fund exodus.

The rupee was at 84.01 against the US dollar as of 11:40 a.m. IST, a tad weaker than its close at 83.9950 in the previous session.
 

Asian currencies were down between 0.1 per cent to 0.4 per cent as the dollar hovered close to its highest level in 11 months, boosted by heightened odds of US election victory for former President Donald Trump and near certainty of a 25-bps Federal Reserve rate cut next month.
 

Benchmark Indian equity indices, the BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were lower by 0.3 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively on the day, pegged back by a sharp fall in Bajaj Auto shares and foreign investors continued sale of local stocks.
 

Overseas investors have sold $8 billion worth of domestic stocks over October so far, the highest monthly outflow in over four years.
 

While price-action on Thursday may be lacklustre, the dollar-rupee pair remains a "buy on dips," given the recent gains for the dollar and upcoming US elections, Dilip Parmar, a foreign exchange research analyst at HDFC Securities said.
 

Meanwhile, inflows related to Hyundai Motor India's IPO undershot market expectations, with traders pointing to muted overnight dollar-rupee swap rates that signalled muted inflows.
 

The "sentiment is slightly negative on equities," which is likely to keep the rupee under pressure but declines below 84.08-84.10 are unlikely given the RBI's firm defence of the currency near those levels, a trader at a foreign bank said.
 

Investors now await the European Central Bank's policy decision due later in the day alongside US retail sales and jobless claims data.

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