The rupee was at 96.5350 per dollar as of 10:00 a.m. IST, nearly flat compared to its close at 96.5650 in the previous session.
Brent crude oil prices rose over 2% to $96.3 per barrel in Asian trade to their highest in more than six weeks, as Yemen’s Houthis targeted oil tankers in the Red Sea and the United States launched a new round of strikes on Iran.
Higher energy prices present a key macroeconomic risk for India as they threaten to slow growth, lift inflation and widen the current account deficit while also weighing on the country’s capital account.
“Disruptions to oil shipments from the Gulf, combined with rising US Treasury yields, are likely to weigh broadly on Asian currencies,” analysts at MUFG said in a note. “The key market risk is whether the conflict shifts from a phase of renewed escalation to one that triggers a broader global energy shock.”
The U.S. military said it completed its 12th consecutive night of attacks on Iran hours after President Donald Trump vowed to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Amid the ongoing pressures, the rupee has had to increasingly lean on central bank interventions to prevent sharp falls in the vicinity of its all-time low of nearly 97 per dollar. If the pressure sustains, the rupee continues to weaken and the rebound in foreign flows into Indian government debt could dissipate, a trader at a foreign bank said.
Foreign investors have net bought about $4.5 billion of Indian government bonds over June and July so far.
economictimes.indiatimes.com