Mumbai: The rupee remained weak against the dollar, tracking the US currency’s strength overseas following overnight data which showed that the manufacturing sector there was at its best in two years. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said the US factory activity index rose to 55.4 from 50.9 in June, exceeding expectations of 52 and the highest since the same month in 2011, rekindling hope that the country’s economy is on the growth path. At 2:25 PM, the rupee was at 60.86 per dollar, close to its intra-day low and down 0.68% from the previous close of 60.44. It had opened at 60.61. “There is no positive news from the domestic economy and since the dollar has strengthened overnight, the rupee is weak. The next big data from the US is the jobs data which will be keenly watched,� said a dealer at a French bank. Some expect this to show that the US added 183,000 new jobs in July, lowering the unemployment rate to 7.5%. The rupee is the worst performer in Asia after the yen, having lost 9.47% of its value since January. The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 82.352, up 0.01% from the previous close of 82.336. India’s benchmark Sensex was trading at 19,234.21 points, down 0.43% from the previous close. The 10-year bond was trading at 8.20%, up 12 basis points (bps) from Thursday’s close of 8.08%. One bps is 0.01 percentage point. The call money rate was at 9.02%, up from Thursday’s close of 7.50%. It opened at 10.02 and touched a high and a low of 10.02% and 9.02%, respectively

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