Jonathan Cavenagh, a currency strategist in Singapore at Westpac Banking Corp., comments on the outlook for India’s rupee. The currency traded at 45.12 per dollar as of 11:39 a.m. in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “In the near term, anything above 45.50 in terms of one- month non-deliverable forwards will still be seen in the market as an opportunity to sell the dollar and buy the rupee. That has proved to be a very good resistance level for the pair. Although we still have to be cautious on Asian currencies, we have come a long way from the lows of the dollar-Asian pair. ‘‘The Fed’s actions will ultimately prove to be dollar- negative in the medium term while Asian economies are going to be experiencing capital inflows. So Asian currencies are going to see appreciation in the medium term. Our forecast is that the rupee will strengthen to 44.60 by the end of September. ‘‘We are seeing our European financial stress index starting to rise and this backdrop might not favor the rupee given the Indian economy runs a current-account deficit. This might leave it out of favor compared with currencies like the Singapore dollar. The rupee is not my top choice among Asian currencies at the moment.’’ To contact the reporter on this story: Jeanette Rodrigues in Mumbai at jrodrigues26@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Regan at jregan19@bloomberg.net

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