RBI favouring currency futures market to prop up rupee from record low

Capital outflows, sparked by India's widening current-account deficit and the risk-off mood that's roiled emerging markets recently, have put the rupee under pressure

India’s central bank may increasingly be turning to the currency futures market to stem a slide that sent the rupee to a record low last month, according to analysts and traders.

The Reserve Bank of India probably intervened to the tune of $2.5 billion in May — the highest for any month so far this year — and $2 billion in June, according to estimates from Kotak Securities Ltd. That compares with $3.6 billion for the entire January-April period, according to data from the RBI.

The central bank has increased its presence on the exchange-traded futures platform as advance tax payments and