MUMBAI, – The Indian central bank was selling U.S. dollars on Friday to limit depreciation in the rupee, four traders told Reuters.
The rupee was at 83.5375 against the dollar as of 10:50 a.m. IST, barely changed from its close at 83.5425 in the previous session. The rupee had hit its record low of 83.5750 in April.
The Reserve Bank of India was likely selling dollars, via state-run banks, near 83.54-83.55 levels, a foreign exchange trader at a private bank said.
State-run banks were putting up “pretty strong offers to cap (USD/INR),” the trader said.
The rupee was under pressure on Friday amid weakness in most Asian currencies after dollar gained due to weakness in the euro and a hawkish tilt in Federal Reserve policymakers’ projections of future interest rates.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra, Nimesh Vora; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
