Kamal Ghorui
Rupee opened in green on Friday, climbing 9 paise to 90.25 against the US dollar, as currency markets reacted to optimism around the India-US trade deal but remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy announcement. The early gains came after the currency ended Thursday’s session higher by 13 paise at 90.34 against the greenback. According to forex traders, while sentiment has improved, rupee’s movement continues to be constrained by strong corporate demand for dollars and weakness in domestic equities. Market participants are also said to be shifting from initial optimism to scrutiny, as neither India nor the US has released formal documents outlining the agreement. On Thursday, rupee opened at 90.52 in the interbank foreign exchange market, moved to an intraday high of 90.06 and a low of 90.53, before settling at 90.34, marking a gain of 13 paise over the previous close. Attention is also on the Reserve Bank of India, where the six-member Monetary Policy Committee led by Governor Sanjay Malhotra began deliberations on Wednesday. The policy decision will be announced on Friday morning. Experts said the RBI has already cut the repo rate by 125 basis points since last February and may maintain a pause, although some believe another rate cut remains possible to further lower borrowing costs.Meanwhile on the stock market front, equity benchmarks opened on a subdued note on Friday, slipping into negative territory as investors adopted a wait-and-watch approach ahead of MPC decision. At the opening bell, the Nifty 50 fell 37 points, or 0.14%, to 25,605.80, while the BSE Sensex edged down 64.61 points, or 0.08%, to 83,249.32. Market sentiment remained cautious with the RBI set to announce the MPC outcome at 10 am later in the day.
