Overview
- The Indian rupee slipped to 94.81 per US dollar in early Wednesday trade and later closed near 94.82, hovering just shy of its March record low.
- Traders pointed to Brent crude holding above $110 a barrel and fresh supply worries after the UAE said it will leave OPEC on May 1, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz still constrained.
- Heavy foreign selling in Indian stocks continued Tuesday, and a large cash outflow tied to Sun Pharma’s $11.5 billion Organon deal added one-off dollar demand that strained the currency.
- Market participants reported state-run banks selling dollars through the session, a move widely read as the Reserve Bank of India working to slow the rupee’s slide.
- Across the region, Pakistan’s central bank repaid a total of $3.45 billion to the UAE and raised its policy rate to 11.50%, while the Pakistani rupee held near 279 per dollar as the dollar index hovered around 99 ahead of the Fed decision.