BLBG:India’s Rupee Snaps Four-Week Drop on Joint Central Bank Action
India’s rupee completed its first weekly advance since October after joint efforts by central banks to tackle Europe’s debt crisis bolstered sentiment toward emerging-market assets.
The currency rebounded from last week’s record low as six monetary authorities led by the U.S. Federal Reserve agreed this week to lower the interest rate on dollar-liquidity swap lines. The rupee gained for a second day after global investors bought $27 million more Indian shares than they sold on Nov. 30, according to exchange data.
“Sentiment has improved slightly after the central banks’ actions,” said Vikas Babu, a Mumbai-based currency trader at state-owned Andhra Bank. “This is unlikely to last long as only the symptoms of the crisis are being tackled, and I expect dollar-buying to resume soon.”
The rupee advanced 2.1 percent this week and 0.5 percent today to 51.2063 per dollar in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency slumped to a record 52.73 on Nov. 22.
The premium banks pay to borrow dollars overnight from central banks will fall by half a percentage point to 50 basis points, the Fed said. It coordinated the move with the European Central Bank and monetary authorities in Canada, Switzerland, Japan and the U.K.
Three-month offshore rupee forwards traded at 52.16 to the dollar, compared with 52.29 yesterday. Forwards are agreements to buy or sell assets at a set price and date. Non-deliverable contracts are settled in dollars.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeanette Rodrigues in Mumbai at jrodrigues26@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net