The Indian rupee fell past the 71-mark to hit a near six-month low against the US dollar, tracking losses in its Asian peers as fear of an Argentina credit default and political turmoil in Hong Kong weighed on risk appetite. Also, the market awaits consumer price index-based inflation (CPI) data, due after 5.30pm. CPI probably quickened to 3.09% year on year last month from 3.18% in June, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Traders also exercised caution amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Indian subcontinent over the events in Jammu & Kashmir. In pre-trade, the benchmark equity index Sensex rose 0.86% to 37,906.07 points. So this year it has risen 5.5%.
Year to date, foreign investors have bought nearly $8.02 billion in equity and $2.81 billion in debt. The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against a basket of major currencies, was at 97.57, up 0.19% from its previous close of 97.38.
Read EquityPandit’s Nifty Bank Outlook for the Week