Indian rupee to cling to recovery before long weekend featuring Trump-Putin meet
The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated the rupee will open in the 87.44-87.46 range versus the U.S. dollar, flat from Wednesday's level of 87.44. The local currency had its best day in more than a month on Wednesday, thanks to a softer dollar and position adjustments.
'The recovery yesterday was against the trend and caught a few by surprise,' a senior banker at a private bank said.
'Today should be quiet with a mild upside bias (on dollar/rupee),' he added. 'Most interbank desks are in wait-and-watch mode with positions light heading into a potentially risk-filled weekend.'
Indian financial markets are shut on Friday, when Trump and Putin are scheduled to meet in Alaska to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
For India, the meeting holds added significance after Trump criticised its purchase of Russian oil and imposed an extra 25% tariff on its goods effective August 27, doubling the rate to 50% - the highest U.S. tariff on a country alongside Brazil.
'At a 50% tariff rate, several Indian industries would face significant headwinds, particularly those for which the U.S. is their largest export market,' said Lim Ze Hao, an analyst at CreditSights.
On Wednesday, Trump threatened 'severe consequences' if Putin did not agree to peace in Ukraine, while adding that a second meeting, possibly involving the Ukrainian president, could follow swiftly.
A conciliatory outcome could help calm jitters and support the rupee, while a combative outcome may renew pressure on the currency by triggering equity flows and heightening concerns over U.S. trade policy towards India.
Key indicators:
One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 87.58; onshore one-month forward premium at 11 paise
Dollar index at 97.72
Brent crude futures up 0.5% at $65.9 per barrel
Ten-year U.S. note yield at 4.23%
As per NSDL data, foreign investors sold a net $302.1 million worth of Indian shares on August 12
NSDL data shows foreign investors sold a net $76.5 million worth of Indian bonds on August 12
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
3 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Moscow hails Alaska summit as victory for Russia's Ukraine narrative
In the early hours of Saturday morning following a summit in Alaska between the leaders of Russia and the United States, senior politicians in Moscow were quick to trumpet the meeting as a win for Russia and its narrative of the war in Ukraine. "The meeting in Alaska confirmed Russia's desire for peace, long-term and fair," said Andrei Klishas, a senior lawmaker from President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. He portrayed the summit as a coup for Russia and a loss for Ukraine and its European allies, who have been pushing for an unconditional ceasefire. "The tasks of the SMO will be accomplished either by military or diplomatic means," Klishas wrote, using the acronym for Special Military Operation, the Kremlin's term for the war. "A new architecture for European and international security is on the agenda, and everyone must accept it." The highly-anticipated summit on Friday in Anchorage yielded no agreement to resolve or pause the conflict, now in its fourth year, although both Putin and US President Donald Trump described the talks as productive. Read More: Russia readying nuclear-powered cruise missile test The two men met for nearly three hours before giving a brief media appearance and boarding separate planes home. Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president known for his hawkish views, said the summit proved that it was possible to hold talks without conditions - as Moscow has insisted - while the fighting in Ukraine rages on. Russia's flagship Channel One morning state news bulletin on Saturday stressed the pageantry around the summit, its global profile, and the warm welcome extended to Putin, who had been ostracized by Western leaders since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "The Red carpet, handshakes and footage and photographs that are in all global publications and TV channels," it said, saying it was the first time that Trump had met a visiting leader off their plane at the airport. Its correspondent in Alaska said the two leaders had obviously agreed about a lot of things, but did not say what those things were. "The very fact of the meeting in Alaska, its tone, and its outcome represent a significant and joint success for both presidents, each of whom made a tremendous personal contribution to achieving the best possible result at this time," Konstantin Kosachyov, a chair of the foreign affairs committee of Russia's upper house of parliament, wrote on Telegram. Also Read: At least 11 dead, over 100 injured in factory blast in Russia Other commentators struck a sourer tone. Writing for War Gonzo, a pro-war Telegram channel with over 800,000 subscribers, one blogger praised Putin's remarks as "quite strong", but added that the meeting had delivered no visible outcomes beyond the mere fact that it took place. "What will happen next? If our strikes on Ukrainian regime targets resume, Trump will have a reason to declare once again that 'Putin is talking nonsense' and to impose sanctions and interrupt the negotiation process that has begun," wrote the blogger, Old Miner.
Business Recorder
4 hours ago
- Business Recorder
US proposed NATO-style joint defence guarantees for Kyiv: source
KYIV: The US has proposed security guarantees for Ukraine similar to – but separate from – those enjoyed by NATO member countries, a diplomatic source told AFP on Saturday. The suggestion was raised during a call US President Donald Trump held with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders earlier on Saturday, the source said. 'As one of the security guarantees for Ukraine, the American side proposed a non-NATO Article 5 type guarantee, supposedly agreed with (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin,' the diplomatic source said on condition they not be identified in any way. NATO's collective security is based on its Article 5 principle: if one member is attacked, the entire alliance comes to its defence. Trump says Ukraine needs to make a deal after summit with Putin ends without ceasefire Trump, Zelensky and European leaders – who included NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte – spoke early Saturday to discuss Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin held on Friday in Alaska. Before that joint call, Trump also had a call with Zelensky as flew back from Alaska. 'The American side voiced this (joint security proposal) during a conversation with the president (Zelensky) and then repeated it during a joint conversation with the Europeans,' the diplomatic source said. Another source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the NATO-like guarantees had been discussed. But that source added: 'No-one knows how this could work and why Putin would agree to it if he is categorically against NATO and obviously against really effective guarantees of Ukraine's sovereignty.' Kyiv has long aspired to join NATO – but Russia has given that as one of its reasons for its war in Ukraine, and some Western circles have expressed resistance to the idea. Trump has repeatedly ruled out Ukraine joining the Western military alliance. Zelensky is due in Washington on Monday for talks with Trump. The second source told AFP that Zelensky is to discuss what form a possible Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit would have, the role of Kyiv's European allies in peace talks, territories, and security guarantees.
Express Tribune
5 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Chinese FM to visit India to resolve border dispute
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 15th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' meeting during the 58th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' meeting and related meetings at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur on July 11, 2025. Photo: Reuters Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit India from Monday to Wednesday, China's foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday, for talks about a disputed border in the Himalayas. This is only the second such meeting since a deadly clash in 2020 between Indian and Chinese troops at the border. Relations between the two Asian giants have been thawing since an agreement last October on patrolling their Himalayan border, easing a five-year standoff that had hurt trade, investment and air travel. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the month when he travels to China - his first visit in seven years - to attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional security bloc. Also Read: India seeks to normalise ties with China India and China share a 3,800 km (2,400 miles) border that is poorly demarcated and has been disputed since the 1950s. The two countries fought a brief but brutal border war in 1962, and decades of talks have made limited progress. Relations between the two countries boosted in recent weeks amid new tensions in India-US ties after decades of progress, analysts said, as Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Indian exports to the United States - one of the highest levels among Washington's strategic partners. The United States and China, meanwhile, previous week extended a tariff truce for another 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on each other's goods. China and India have already agreed to resume direct flights suspended since 2020 and are discussing easing trade barriers, including reopening border trade at three Himalayan crossings.
