Market News
Rupee steadies to cap rough week dominated by Trump's tariff jolt - REUTERS
MUMBAI, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee nudged higher on Friday, supported by likely intervention from the Reserve Bank of India, but still logged its worst weekly drop since late 2022 due to worries over U.S. tariffs and sustained foreign portfolio outflows.
The rupee closed at 87.54 against the U.S. dollar on Friday, a tad higher than its close at 87.5950 in the previous session. On the week, the currency declined 1.2%, its worst performance since December 2022.
The South-Asian currency fell to 87.74 on Thursday, just shy of its all-time low of 87.95 in February, following President Donald Trump's announcement of a steeper-than-expected 25% tariff on Indian imports.
Firm intervention by the central bank on Friday helped the rupee find some footing, but traders and analysts expect a depreciation bias in the near term.
Consistent foreign outflows from local stocks alongside elevated corporate dollar demand are likely to keep the local currency under pressure, traders said. Foreign investors net sold $2 billion of Indian equities in July.
India's equity benchmarks, the BSE Sensex (.BSESN) and Nifty 50 (.NSEI) were lower on the day and logged their fifth consecutive weekly fall.
