The Indian rupee weakened 17 paise to 63.73 against the US dollar on Monday after banks and exporters sold American currency. The dollar pulled ahead following reports of strong job growth in July, forex dealers said, according to PTI. The rupee had ended at a fresh two-year high of 63.58 on Friday.
The executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group at Franklin Templeton Investments, Mark Mobius, told Mint that he expects the rupee to appreciate to around Rs 60 a dollar by the end of 2017 on the back of growth in India and rising reserves.
Angel Commodities said that the rupee is expected to strengthen towards 63.20 in August because of the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to cut its lending rates, according to The Economic Times. “Also, uncertain global political scenario shall prompt foreign investors to flee towards emerging markets, including India, benefitting the rupee,” Angel Commodities said.
Sensex, Nifty suffer marginal losses
Meanwhile, India’s benchmark indices were fluctuating between positive and negative territory. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex closed 51.74 points below at 32,273.67 while the National Stock Exchange Nifty ended nine points lower at 10,057.40.
Stocks of Tata Steel (4.26%), the State Bank of India (1.85%), Adani Ports (1.59%), and ICICI Bank (1.28%) gained on both indices, while those of Infosys, TCS, Tata Motors and NTPC performed poorly.
Among the sectoral indices, metal – led mostly by gains in Tata Steel – performed well, followed by oil and gas and realty. Inormation Technology was the worst performer.
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