Indian Rupee Struggles, Nifty At One Week Low

Published on Sep 21, 2023 12:25

Indian Rupee stayed weak today as sustained losses in local equities and firm US dollar. The global risk appetite took a hit as the Federal Reserve yesterday decided to leave its benchmark interest rates unchanged. The Fed said it decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25 to 5.50 percent after raising rates by 25 basis points in July. However, the central bank`s latest projections suggest Fed officials expect one more rate hike this year, forecasting a median rate of 5.6 percent by the end of 2023. The forecast for rates at the end of 2024 was raised to 5.1 percent from 4.6 percent in June, while the outlook for rates at the end of 2025 was increased to 3.9 percent from 3.4 percent. This took a toll on major currencies as Euro and Pound lost heavily. The INR started in a steady manner and approached 83 per US dollar mark before giving up. It added to losses as the US dollar index held up well above 105 mark, holding at a multi month top. The INR currently quotes at 83.16, down 5 paise on the day. On the NSE, the USDINR futures are quoting at 83.17, up 0.06% on the day. The NIFTY50 index has slipped to a two week low.