The Indian rupee was trading in a narrow range against the UAE dirham in early trade on Wednesday, amid a muted trend in domestic equities.
Forex traders said the rupee was trading in a narrow range as sustained foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.31(Dh22.7) against the dollar and then touched a high of 83.30, and a low of 83.32 against the greenback.
Asian stocks backed away from 2-1/2-month high on Wednesday and the dollar found support as investors’ tempered some of their earlier enthusiasm about the prospect of an end to U.S. rate hikes.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan has gained more than 3% since a week ago and hit its highest since September on Tuesday. But it fell 0.2% in early trade on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.5%.
Overnight the S&P 500 snapped a five-session winning streak and fell 0.2%. Chipmaker Nvidia reported revenue well above Wall St expectations after market close, but shares fell 1.7% due to the company’s downbeat China sales outlook.
Nasdaq futures were down 0.2% and S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% early in the Asia day. Volumes are likely to be lightened through the rest of the week by Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.
The Federal Reserve released minutes from that meeting overnight though traders judged that policymakers’ promise to “proceed carefully” from here was not new information.
Ten-year Treasury yields were marginally lower at 4.40% in Asia trade. They have fallen about 50 basis points since the Fed held rates steady early in the month.
Interest rate futures markets see almost no chance the Fed hikes again and price about 90 basis points of rate cuts through 2024, with a 30% chance they begin as soon as March.
Inputs from wires