Rupee settles marginally higher at 69.03 against dollar as traders turn cautious ahead of G20 summit

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Friday notched a marginal 4 paise gain at 69.03 as forex market keenly awaited further cues from the high-stakes G20 summit. On a weekly basis, the Indian currency has gained 55 paise. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 69.00 and swung between the day’s high of 68.88 and low of 69.11 to the US dollar. It finally settled at 69.03 a dollar, registering a rise of 4 paise. The American currency’s weakness against its key rivals also boosted sentiment in the domestic forex market. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell marginally by 0.04 percent to 96.15. [caption id=“attachment_6221211” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.18 percent to trade at $66.67 per barrel. “Traders have been taking cautious approach ahead of the G20 Summit, which is taking place amidst ongoing US-China trade tiff and rising tensions in the Middle East,” said V K Sharma, Head PCG & Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC Securities. Sharma further said that the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping this weekend could lead to an easing of trade tensions. Analysts believe that macro-economic data and liquidity situation in the NBFC sector will also have an impact on the rupee and financial market sentiments. As per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the government’s fiscal deficit touched 52 percent of the budget estimate for the full year in the first two months of 2019-20. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit or gap between expenditure and revenue, was Rs 3,66,157 crore. The Reserve Bank Thursday underlined the need for “greater surveillance” on large non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and housing finance players (HFCs), saying the failure of the biggest among them can have the same impact as a big bank going down. Foreign investors sold shares worth Rs 513.91 crore on a net basis Friday, provisional data showed. Meanwhile, the 10-year government bond yield was at 6.88 percent on Friday. After a choppy session, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 191.77 points, or 0.48 percent, lower at 39,394.64. The broader NSE Nifty fell 52.70 points, or 0.45 percent, to end at 11,788.85. The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 69.2216 and for rupee/euro at 78.5887. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 87.7356 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 64.01.