At 2pm, the rupee was trading at 65.01 a dollar, down 0.06% from its Tuesday’s close of 64.97

The Indian rupee on Wednesday erased all the morning gains and weakened marginally against US dollar, tracking sell-off in the global equity markets.

At 2pm, the home currency was trading at 65.01 a dollar, down 0.06% from its Tuesday’s close of 64.97. The rupee opened at 64.84 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.84 and 65.09, respectively.

Markets all over the world declined following losses in the US markets due to a selloff in US technology shares, while China said North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un was ready to talk with US President Donald Trump about giving up nuclear weapons.

Markets in Japan, China and Hong Kong have slipped 1-2% after the S&P500 and Dow Jones ended over 1.5% each lower.

Benchmark Sensex fell 0.48%, or 158.64 points, to 33,015.75. So far this year, it has declined 2.59%.

Traders are cautious ahead of the long weekend. Markets will remain closed on Thursday and Friday due to Mahavir Jayanti and Good Friday, respectively.

The 10-year bond yield was at 7.365% compared to its previous close of 7.333%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

So far this year, the rupee has declined 1.55%, while foreign investors have bought $2 billion in equity and sold $174.30 million in debt market.

Asian currencies trading lower. Japanese yen was down 0.23%, Taiwan dollar 0.14%, China offshore 0.14%, Indonesian rupiah 0.13%, China renminbi 0.08%. However, Malaysian ringgit was up 0.41%, Philippines peso 0.25%, Singapore dollar 0.11%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 89.26, down 0.13% from its previous close of 89.372.

source: livemint.com