Rupee fell for the first time in seven days on concern that foreign investors may pull money out of Asian markets after North Korea said it held a nuclear test today.
The currency declined the most in almost two weeks as the MSCI Emerging Markets Index of stocks dropped, adding to speculation global funds see increased risk.
The rupee weakened 0.5% to 47.36 per dollar as of 9:57 a.m. The currency climbed 4.9% last week, the best performance since March 1996.
The ICE’s Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against the euro, the yen, the British pound, the Canadian dollar, Swiss franc and Sweden’s krona, climbed 0.2% to 80.10.
North Korea conducted a nuclear test today, the communist nation’s official Korean Central News Agency said. The underground test was “successful,” according to the report.
Offshore contracts indicate bets the rupee will trade at 47.51 to the dollar in a month, compared with expectations of 47.22 at the end of last week. Forwards are agreements in which assets are bought and sold at current prices for future delivery. Non-deliverable contracts are settled in dollars rather than the rupee.
