Mumbai: The rupee on Friday was trading little changed against the US dollar tracking the losses in the local equity and Asian currencies markets.

At 2pm, the rupee was trading at 64.15 a dollar, down 0.01% from its Wednesday’s close of 64.14. The rupee opened at 64.17 a dollar. On Thursday, currency markets were closed on account of Parsi New Year.

The benchmark Sensex index fell 1.11% or 353.25 points to 31,442.21. So far this year, it has risen over 18.5%.

The 10-year bond yield was at 6.517%, compared to its previous close of 6.533%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

So far this year, the rupee gained 5.85%, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought $8.24 billion and $18.93 billion in equity and debt markets, respectively.

Asian currencies were trading lower. Philippines peso was down 0.54%, South Korean won 0.38%, Taiwan dollar 0.1%, Indonesian rupiah 0.05%, Malaysian ringgit 0.05%. However, Singapore dollar was up 0.12%, Japanese yen 0.11% and Japanese yen 0.07%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 93.651, up 0.03% from its previous close of 93.622.

Source:livemint.com