Mumbai: The Indian rupee closed at a one-month low against the dollar on Wednesday as dealers accumulated the US currency, tracking its gains overseas, especially against Asian currencies. The local unit opened at 62.15 per dollar and touched a low of 62.30, a last level seen on 9 January. The currency closed at 62.26 per dollar, down 0.08% from previous close of 62.20. Major Asian currencies ended lower against the dollar. The South Korean won was down 0.71%, Malaysian ringgit was down 0.56%, Singapore dollar 0.43%, Indonesian rupiah 0.42%, Japanese yen 0.4%, Taiwan dollar 0.15%. However, China offshore was up 0.11%, and the Philippines peso was up 0.07%. “The dollar has been strong for the last many months and that has continued to be the story. No new factors were at work in the market today,� said a dealer with a French bank. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.63%, or 178.35 points, to close at 28,533.97, according to BSE website. The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond closed at 7.734% compared with its Tuesday’s close of 7.73%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions. Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has gained 1.31%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $2.68 billion from local equity and $4.45 billion from bond markets. The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, trading at 94.87, up 0.11% from the previous close of 94.758. Dealers were cautious ahead of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) data due on 12 February. The government will issue CPI and IIP data on 12 February after 5.30pm. A Bloomberg poll expects CPI-based inflation will be 5.5% for January compared with 5% in December while factory output will grow by 1.8% in December as compared to 3.8% in November.

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