MUMBAI, Sept 12 (Reuters) – The rupee was marginally higher on Tuesday, but some traders reckoned that the recent price action signalled that the currency was unlikely to have much upside.
The rupee was at 82.98 as of 10:50 a.m. IST, compared with 83.03 in the previous session. The currency had opened at 82.94.
“It’s a bit like yesterday, in that you have good buy orders (for dollar),” a forex trader at a bank said.
“Based on what I have seen yesterday and today, would say we are higher (on USD/INR) from here despite what the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) did.”
The RBI intervened aggressively on Friday via a large public sector bank to boost the rupee.
The rupee on Monday reached a high of 82.82 and has since struggled.
“Feel that the rupee has settled into a weaker range,” a foreign exchange trader at a foreign bank said.
Arnob Biswas, head of foreign exchange research at SMC Global Securities, said there was dollar demand from importers and it looked like interbank was “pretty long on the USD/INR pair.”
Asian currencies were quiet after Monday’s volatility. The Chinese yuan and the Japanese yen were little changed following the rally. The dollar index nudged up to 104.62.
All eyes are now on U.S. inflation data due Wednesday, while India will release its August inflation print later in the day.
