Mumbai: The Indian rupee opened at 61.4325 per dollar, slightly stronger from its previous close of 61.46, ahead of the macroeconomic report to be released by the central bank after the market closure on Monday. The macroeconomic report will be followed by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) second quarter monetary policy on Tuesday and currency dealers say they are not prepared to take positions before the policy announcement is made, even as it is widely expected that the central bank will increase its repo rate once again. At 9.10am, the local currency lost its slight edge and was trading at 61.46 per dollar, flat from its previous close. Both the rupee and bonds have been trading range-bound in the last two weeks and, according to bond dealers, a 25 basis points hike in repo has been priced in the bond yields. RBI, in its mid-quarter policy on 20 September, had increased the repo rate to 7.5% from 7.25% after opting for a status quo in its first quarter policy on 31 July. The Sensex, the benchmark equity index of BSE, gained 0.08% or 16.79 points to 20,700.31 in the pre-opening trade. Since January this year, the rupee has lost 10.51% against dollar and is the third biggest loser among Asian currencies, after Indonesian rupiah and Japanese yen.

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