At 2pm, the rupee was trading at 65.20 a dollar, down 0.03% from its Monday’s close of 65.18

The Indian rupee on Tuesday pared all the morning losses and was trading little changed against US dollar ahead of the federal reserve’s interest rate decision and guidance.

At 2pm, the home currency was trading at 65.20 a dollar, down 0.03% from its Monday’s close of 65.18. The rupee opened at 65.24 a dollar and touched a low of 65.25.

Benchmark Sensex index rose 0.20%, or 55.20 points, to 32,978.32. So far this year, it has declined 3.3%.

The US Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday with new chairman Jerome Powell giving his first press conference. Market expectations for a March rate hike were at 94.4% as of Monday morning, according to a Reuters report.

The 10-year bond yield was at 7.608% compared to its previous close of 7.607%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

So far this year, the rupee fell 2%, while foreign investors have bought $1.52 billion in equity and sold $404.60 million in debt market.

Asian currencies were trading higher. Singapore dollar was up 0.17%, South Korean won 0.1%, Thai baht 0.09%, China renminbi 0.08%, Taiwan dollar 0.08%, Malaysian ringgit 0.07%. However, Philippines peso was down 0.16% and Japanese yen 0.14%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 89.886, up 0.13% from its previous close of 89.765.

Source: livemint.com