Rupee's sticks to muted price action, implied volatility retreats
MUMBAI, June 11 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee ended slightly higher on Wednesday, sticking to rangebound price action for a third consecutive session on two-sided client flows and the absence of cues to firm a directional bias on the currency.
The dollar-rupee pair's implied volatility, a gauge of future expectations, has receded on the back of muted moves in the currency. The 1-month gauge eased to about 4.4%, the lowest in over one month.
On the day, the rupee closed at 85.51 against the U.S. dollar, up slightly from its close of 85.6025 in the previous session.
Asian currencies were largely steady as well while the dollar index was hovering sideways around the 99-handle.
Mild dollar sales from foreign banks helped the rupee tick higher in early trading but routine corporate dollar demand stood in the way of the local currency extending its rise, a trader at a state-run bank said.
India's benchmark equity indexes, the BSE Sensex (.BSESN), opens new tab and Nifty 50 (.NSEI), opens new tab, ended slightly in the green, tracking a rise in regional equities as markets gave a guarded welcome to the latest signs of progress in trade talks between the United States and China.
"The dollar remains one of the best gauges of trade sentiment. While it has held up generally well early this week, it hasn't built on the late-week momentum following the US-China meeting announcement," ING Bank said in a note.
Worries about the impact of wide-ranging U.S. tariffs have weighed on the dollar this year and left it nursing losses of more than 8.5% against major peers.
The focus now turns to U.S. consumer price inflation data, due later on Wednesday, which is expected to show month-on-month core consumer prices rose 0.3% in May, according to a Reuters poll, slightly higher than the 0.2% rise in the previous month.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Air India disaster deals heavy blow to 'world class airline' ambition
NEW DELHI, June 12 (Reuters) - The Air India plane crash in which more than 200 passengers were killed on Thursday has plunged the airline into its deepest crisis yet and will deal a heavy blow to its efforts to revamp its reputation and fleet. After taking the carrier over from the government in 2022, the Tata Group unveiled ambitious plans to reverse years of underinvestment in an ageing and outdated fleet and create a "world class airline", as CEO Campbell Wilson has repeatedly put it, on a par with rivals like Emirates. The turnaround has been aimed at tackling its myriad problems including persistent flight delays, disgruntled customers, a shortage of spare parts, delayed plane deliveries and years of financial losses. "Newer aircraft and better maintenance should be the hallmark for Air India to survive. Proper maintenance is what they should be looking into, because Air India has had a chequered past," said Vibhuti Deora, a former legal expert at India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. That past includes, while under government ownership, Boeing 737 flight from Dubai overshooting the runway at one domestic airport and crashing into a gorge in 2010, killing 158 people. More recently, its low-cost unit Air India Express saw one craft skid off a runway in India in 2020, killing 21 people. Only a few days ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told an international gathering of hundreds of airline executives in New Delhi that the country's aviation industry stood at a crucial point of takeoff. On Thursday, however, Air India swapped the bright red colour scheme and logo on its website for a more sombre black and grey one, covering it with a banner that carried the crashed flight's number: "AI-171". "For an airline, the most important thing is the brand's identity with safety. This will be a major setback for the brand in that aspect," said Dilip Cherian, a communications consultant and co-founder of public relations firm Perfect Relations. With its maharajah mascot, Air India was once renowned for its lavishly decorated planes and stellar service championed by its founder, JRD Tata, India's first commercial pilot. But since the mid-2000s, the carrier's reputation has worsened as financial troubles mounted. It has flown widebody planes with business class seats in poor condition and grounded some of its new Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab 787 Dreamliners for lack of spare parts. When Tata regained control, the airline was "just in absolute shambles", its CEO Wilson told Reuters in a 2024 interview, noting that some of its planes hadn't had a product refresh since they were delivered in 2010-2011. Air India, which has a 30% share of the domestic passenger market, has a fleet of 198 planes, of which 27 are 10-15 years old and 43 are more than 15 years old, the civil aviation ministry told parliament in March. Air India Express had 101 planes, with 37% of them more than 15 years old. The plane that crashed on Thursday was 11 years old, according to Flightradar24. Rival Indian airlines like IndiGo ( opens new tab operate newer planes. Air India, which is part-owned by Singapore Airlines ( opens new tab, has placed orders for 570 new jets in recent years and is in talks for dozens more. It has even aggressively expanded its international flight network in the face of the fury of its passengers, who often take to social media to show soiled seats, broken arm rests, non-operational entertainment systems and dirty cabin areas. It has also been ranked the worst airline for flight delays in Britain, where its departures were on average just under 46 minutes behind schedule in 2024, according to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data by the PA news agency published in May. It has also been reporting losses since at least fiscal 2019-20. In 2023-2024, it reported a net loss of $520 million on sales of $4.6 billion. Before it can make any further progress on these problems, however, it faces the difficult task of investigating one of India's worst aviation disasters ever. "This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India," CEO Wilson said in a video message. "Investigations will take time."
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The Brits on board doomed Air India crash: Couple and daughter, four, wellness influencers and award-winning hotel manager with his family are among passengers feared dead in Ahmedabad tragedy
A family-of-three, a wellness influencer couple, an award-winning hotel manager travelling with his wife and two children and a widow, her grandson and daughter-in-law are among the Brits who were on board the doomed Air India plane. This morning, the Gatwick-bound plane carrying 242 passengers, including 53 British nationals, crashed just moments after take-off in from Ahmedabad Airport in the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner careened back down to earth in the densely populated Meghani area of the city just minutes after leaving the runway around 1.40pm local time (8.10am BST). All but one person aboard Air India Flight 171 are feared to have died in the tragedy. MailOnline can reveal that among them were Akeel Nanawaba, Hannaa Vorajee and their four-year-old daughter Sarah, Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, Javed Ali Syed, his wife and two children and Raxa Modha, her grandson Rudra and her daughter-in-law Yasha Kamdar. The sole survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was seated in 11A, is also British and told the Hindustan Times he had lived in London for 20 years. Akeel Nanawaba, 36, his wife Hannaa Vorajee, 30, and their daughter Sarah, four, were flying home from a five-day family celebration when the Dreamliner crashed. The successful young couple ran a global recruitment agency with offices in Ahmedabad and Gloucester. Their shocked business partner Shoyeb Khan Nagori told MailOnline: 'I had dinner with them last night. They were a lovely family and Akeel and his wife were extremely successful people.' Mr Nagori said he was too upset to find the words to describe their daughter Sarah who had spent time with her grandfather during the brief visit. He said: 'They were here to celebrate a family festival and to spend some time with Akeel's father. 'Akeel was a really good man, I'm in shock, we were all having dinner together the night before.' Mr Nagori was with hundreds of other relatives of crash victims waiting for updates at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad. He founded recruitment company Iceberg Outsourcing Services with Mr Nanbawa, who was the managing director. Hannaa, a trained midwife, was head of finance with a sister company called Rec2go Ltd, also based in Gloucester. The second family feared to have been killed included an award-winning hotel manager, his wife and their two children. Javed Ali Syed, a hotel manager at the Best Western Kensington Olympia Hotel and his wife Mariam were passengers on the fallen Air India Flight 171 this morning. Their two young children, Amani, four, and Zayn, were also on board the flight. Mr Syed was an award winning hotelier having previously received a Team Member of the Year award, while working for the Comfort Inn London in Westminster in 2017. Recently widowed Raxa Modha, 55, her grandson two-year-old Rudra, and her daughter-in-law Yasha Kamdar are all believed to have been onboard the ill-fated airliner. Mrs Modha had been in India for some time fulfilling the dying wish of her ill husband Kishor who had wanted to live out his last days in his homeland. Following his recent passing, the mother-of-three was returning with her family to their home in Northamptonshire when disaster struck this morning. In a twist of fate, Kishan Modha – the toddler's father and Raxa's son – had also been in India but was not on the flight as he was due to catch another flight tomorrow. Speaking to MailOnline, a family friend said: 'It's incredibly sad, the whole family is already grieving Kishor's death. 'Kishan fortunately was getting on another flight, but we don't know what has happened to the others.' Neighbours at the family's detached home in Wellingborough said Mrs Modha is a 'lovely lady'. They said she had been in India for an extended period to support her husband who was battling an illness. The respected businessman, who launched a successful catering business after settling in the UK in 1989, died on April 26. The family were due to hold a service in his memory later this month. In a memorial for him, the family said he was a 'cherished husband' to Raxa and 'proud grandfather to Rudra, who brought him immense joy'. The mayor for Wellingborough, Raj Mishra offered his condolences to the family on a post on Facebook adding it was devastating for the local community. 'I extend my deepest condolences to their families, friends, and all those affected by this heartbreaking event,' he added. British celebrity wellness guru Jamie Meek and his husband are also believed to have perished after they posted a haunting video of themselves at the airport waiting to board the Air India flight. Mr Meek, 45, and husband Fiongal Greenlaw, 39, who live in London, run a wellness and healthy lifestyle company called the Wellness Foundry, and had been in India on holiday. In a chilling final social media video posted from Ahmedabad airport as they waited to board their doomed flight the couple were dressed in flowery shirts looking happy at the end of their break. In the clip, Fiongal says: 'We are at the airport just boarding. Goodbye India. Ten-hour flight back to England. What was your biggest takeaway Jamie? Jamie replies: 'I don't know,' with his partner laughing and responding: 'Thanks for your contribution.' Fiongal than jokes that his biggest takeaway was 'don't lose your patience with your partner' to which Jamie responds with a smile: 'You snapped at me at the airport for having chai.' As other passengers mill in the background, Fiongal laughs at the camera and reveals that he is going back to Britain 'happily, happily calm.' Mr Meek's brother, Nick Meek, told MailOnline: 'We were expecting him home tonight. He should have landed at 6.30pm and then driven up for about 11pm to get his dog who is staying with our Mum. 'She is not in a good way. It is all very raw for her at the moment. It's a lot to take in and we only heard this news a couple of hours ago. 'Jamie and his husband Fin had been out there for 10 days as a couple to do a wellness retreat. 'They both worked in holistics and had their own business.' The caretaker from Birmingham said it was not the first time his brother had been to India but it was the first time they had gone as a couple. He said that his brother and Fin had married in 2022 and lived in Ramsgate, Kent. In other videos posted by the couple, they showed the stunning hotel they were staying in while in Ahmedabad having completed a seven-hour car journey. Fiongal lies on a large bed as he speaks to the camera, showing off a giant swing in their room and describes the hotel as 'beautiful. He beams: 'Feeling very, very happy.' The couple captured the happy time they had in India in a series of social media posts. This included getting henna tattoos, shopping for fine fabrics and other gifts and driving through chaotic traffic in a tuk-tuk. They arrived in Ahmedabad just a day before flying back with Fiongal posting in a video: 'So, it's our last night in India and we've had a magical experience. Some mind-blowing things have happened. 'We are going to put all this together and create a vlog. It's my first ever vlog about the whole trip and we want to share it.' Jamie revealed what a memorable trip they had both had: 'We have been on quite a journey and then spending our last night here in this beautiful hotel, it's really been great way to round off the trip.' According to its website, The Wellness Foundry was founded by Fiongal in 2018 after he had a 'spiritual awakening' following a mysterious illness. The website adds: 'Seeking healing beyond conventional methods, Fiongal delved into alternative practices that resonated deeply within his soul.' The company specialises in tarot and psychic readings, reiki and other alternative spiritual therapies. British father Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was filmed walking out from the rubble after some how miraculously surviving the catastrophic crash. Speaking to local media from the safety of a hospital bed, the passenger who was in seat 11A said: 'Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.' 'When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. 'There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.' Astonishing footage showed the passenger walking away from the scene with some visible injuries. Vishwash, who was returning home to London after visiting family, sustained injuries to his chest, eyes and feet, he told the Hindustan Times. The regional police chief said 'some locals would have also died', given that the plane smashed down into offices and accommodation for doctors close to a hospital. So far, rescue teams supported by the military have recovered 204 bodies, with casualties from the plane and the area surrounding the crash. The passengers included 159 Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian. Eleven of those on board were children, including two newborns. Aviation experts say that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner may have suddenly lost power 'at the most critical phase of flight' after takeoff. The possible causes are believed to include a rapid change in wind or a bird strike leading to a double engine stall. Officials from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are now at the scene to carry out an analysis of the wreckage and retrieve the stricken jet's black box. Videos shared on social media showed the aircraft rapidly losing altitude - with its nose up - before it hit a building and erupted in a violent explosion.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Dollar slides to three-year low after Trump repeats tariff threats
The dollar sank to its lowest in more than three years on Thursday as Donald Trump's latest trade threats and the weakening economy appeared to bring forward interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Foreign exchange traders sold the dollar in favour of the yen and the euro, which both climbed by about 1% against the US currency to leave it almost 10% down on its value against a basket of currencies since the beginning of the year. Analysts said there was little appetite to buy dollars at a time when recent data showed the jobs market weakening and while erratic White House policies clouded the outlook for the US economy. The slide came after the US president revived last month's threat to unilaterally impose country-specific tariff rates within the next two weeks. 'We're going to be sending letters out in about a week and a half, two weeks, to countries, telling them what the deal is,' Trump told an event in Washington on Wednesday. Markets were also unsettled by growing speculation that the Federal Reserve would begin to cut the cost of borrowing more quickly than expected after consumer inflation came in lower than expected and producer inflation dropped. Weaker job hiring was another factor after the four-week average number of initial applications for unemployment support rose by 5,000 to 240,250 in May, the highest since August 2023. 'There's clearly solid dollar selling,' said Kit Juckes, the chief foreign exchange strategist at Société Générale. Talks between India and the US over tariffs on steel and aluminium imports imposed by Washington – and the threat of import duties on Indian pharmaceuticals – were also reported to be at loggerheads, leading to speculation that if talks break down, New Delhi may retaliate with tariffs on US imports. Bloomberg reported that India's negotiators had objected to a long list of US demands that included allowing genetically modified crops to be imported and the easing of price controls on medical devices. However, the UK is expected to get a trade boost after Trump indicated that he would put into force the bilateral trade deal signed with Keir Starmer last month, allowing the UK to avoid the extra import duties on cars in return for more relaxed quotas on US beef and ethanol exports to the UK. However, the pound's rise against the dollar to almost $1.36 was choked off by concerns that the UK economy was also suffering more than expected, and that an earlier intervention by the Bank of England to cut interest rates would reduce the demand for sterling. Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The UK economy slumped by 0.3% in April, potentially bringing forward the date when the Bank of England cuts interest rates again. Policymakers meet next week, but are not expected to reduce the cost of borrowing from its 4.25% level until August at the earliest. Vasileios Gkionakis, a senior economist at Aviva Investors, said the consistent depreciation of the dollar since Trump's inauguration was probably due to a lack of faith in the US economy under Trump to grow at an exceptional pace, as it had in recent years. He said higher US government debts, which Trump has signalled will escalate once his tax bill passes both houses of Congress, was another deterrent to buying dollars. 'All this is agitating markets, who in order to lend to the US would require a combination of higher [interest rates] and a weaker exchange rate,' he said.
