By Khushi Malhotra
MUMBAI, June 18 (Reuters) – The Indian rupee rallied to a six-week high on Thursday for a second consecutive day, after exporter flows and offshore dollar selling reversed the morning’s losses sparked by a hawkish Federal Reserve outcome.
The rupee hit an intraday high of 94.2175 to the U.S. dollar, the highest since May 7. It was last quoted at 94.2925, up 0.25% on the day.
“Exporters are doing the most damage (for dollar/rupee) today. Plus, there is overall dollar selling offshore which I suspect is the unwinding of long positions that were still on the books,” a currency trader at a private sector bank said.
The currency had dropped to 94.70 at the open, pressured by a jump in U.S. yields that was triggered by expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise rates at least once this year.
Nine of the 18 Fed policymakers pencilled in a rate hike, far more than analysts had anticipated, according to the Fed’s policy statement. The odds of a hike as soon as next month rose to about 25%.
One policymaker projected three 25-basis-point hikes over the next six months, while five pencilled in two, underscoring the extent of the hawkish shift. No official had projected a rate increase at the March meeting.
Markets are now pricing in 32 basis points of rate hikes this year and a cumulative 42 bps by this time next year, versus 19 bps and 33 bps before the release (of the statement), ING said in a note.
RUPEE RIDES OIL ROUT
A further decline in oil prices supported the rupee, a trend seen through most of this week.
Brent crude futures fell 2.5% in Asian trade to $77.58 per barrel, extending their slide after the U.S. and Iranian presidents signed an interim peace deal on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Janane Venkatraman)
