&w=3840&q=100)
Rupee ends slightly higher at 85.52/$; falls for second straight week
Rupee closed 3 paise higher at 85.52 after ending at 85.55 against the greenback on Thursday
SI Reporter Mumbai
Indian Rupee pared early gains on Friday to end marginally higher amid a weakness in the dollar index and crude oil prices.
The domestic currency closed 3 paise higher at 85.52 after ending at 85.55 against the greenback on Thursday, according to Bloomberg data. The currency gave up its early gains as it opened 25 paise higher against the dollar.
On a weekly basis, the currency logged fell for the second straight week, depreciating 0.16 per cent.
The weakness in dollar index persisted after the US clarified that it is not seeking to weaken the dollar as part of trade deals. The dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was trading 0.12 per cent lower at 100.75.
The dollar index fell as the US 10-year yield fell to 4.42 per cent after downside surprises from US data this week cemented bets that the Federal Reserve will cut rates more than three times this year, Anil Kumar Bhansali, head of treasury and executive director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
Recent global data points to a potentially softening US economy, which could weigh further on the dollar and provide medium-term support to the rupee, according to Amit Pabari, managing director at CR Forex Advisors.
Meanwhile, the currency's movement also comes after the country's trade data. India's merchandise trade deficit widened significantly to $26.42 billion in April from $21.5 billion in March, as a 9 per cent year-on-year uptick in exports was outweighed by a far sharper surge in imports. While April's exports stood at $38.5 billion, imports rose to $64.91 billion, 19.1 per cent higher than a year ago.
The sharp rise, driven by an imbalance in trade growth, adds pressure to the rupee by expanding the current account deficit, Pabari said. "Given a softer dollar and strong equity inflows, the rupee may stay range-bound near term. However, a widening trade deficit and geopolitical risks pose downside pressure."
In commodities, crude oil prices were down, following a sharp decline on Thursday, as the US-Iran nuclear deal sparked oversupply concerns. Brent crude price was down 0.02 per cent to $64.52 per barrel, while WTI crude prices were lower by 0.06 per cent at 61.58, as of 3:45 PM.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
21 minutes ago
- Time of India
Riju Ravindran NCLT: Riju Ravindran Challenges GLAS Trust's Authority in Byju's Insolvency Case, ET LegalWorld
Riju Ravindran, co-founder and former promoter of Think and Learn, which owns debt-ridden edtech firm Byju's, has moved insolvency tribunal NCLT for removal of GLAS Trust as the financial creditor and from its Committee of Creditors. In his petition, Ravindran has alleged that GLAS Trust has "fraudulently represented itself to be a financial creditor" and has requested the National Company Law Tribunal to direct it to "prove its authority to represent the creditors before it". Advt Advt Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis. Download ETLegalWorld App Get Realtime updates Save your favourite articles GLAS Trust, which is representing Byju's US-based creditor, has the authority to represent merely 17.38 per cent of the voting rights of the consortium of term loan providers, he to Ravindran, GLAS can take actions on behalf of lenders only if the action is authorised by lenders holding more than 50 per cent of the term Trust Company LLC, a US-based firm, is the trustee for lenders to which Byju's owes USD 1.2 has requested NCLT to "direct removal of GLAS Trust Company LLC from CoC of Think and Learn forthwith and to, consequently, set aside and declare all decisions taken by the GLAS Trust Company LLC, as a member, as nullity."The matter is scheduled for hearing before the Bengaluru bench of NCLT on an interim measure, Ravindran has also directed NCLT to "stay CIRP of Think and Learn, till the time GLAS proves it has the requisite authority of the qualified lenders under the Credit and Guaranty Agreement dated 24.11.2021 for taking any action under the said agreement."Ravindran has filed this application in the main petition filed by the cricket body BCCI, on whose plea Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) was initiated against the edtech further alleged that GLAS has "fraudulently represented" itself to be a financial creditor before NCLT and obtained several orders based on it."This fundamental fraud has been perpetrated upon this tribunal by GLAS by illegally claiming that it has the authority to represent lenders under the Credit and Guaranty Agreement dated 24.11.2021 without possessing the requisite mandate from 51 per cent of qualified lenders," it entire edifice of representation crumbles upon examination of the contractual disqualification mechanism that has been validly exercised by the company, resulting in the disqualification of 61.43 per cent of the term loan holders."This disqualification has reduced GLAS' actual authority to represent merely 17.38 per cent of the term loan, rendering every action taken by GLAS in these proceedings as ultra vires and void ab initio," it further alleged GLAS, fully cognizant of its lack of authority, has 'orchestrated' an elaborate conspiracy involving Ernst & Young (EY) and successive Resolution Professionals to manipulate the CIRP process and perpetuate its illegal control over Alpha Inc, a wholly-owned US subsidiary of Think and Learn, had availed a loan facility amounting to approximately USD 1.2 billion under a Credit and Guaranty Agreement on November 24, 2021 from a group of lenders. The agreement was for a period of five years with a maturity dated in November 2026 for the term loan under the GLAS issued a notice of default and sought to accelerate the term loan on March 2023 within 15 months of the Credit Agreement and 3.5 years prior to the maturity realising that certain lenders had stepped into the shoes of the initial investors in violation of the specific terms of the Credit Agreement, Think and Learn exercised its rights under the agreement to protect itself by issuing letter of disqualification on June 5, 2023, to Redwood to the petition, GLAS claims to be the administrative and collateral agent for the lenders under the Credit Trust, which had also filed insolvency plea, claimed that 72.2 per cent of the lenders consented to filing of the same."It is submitted that out of these 72.20 per cent, 61.43 per cent are disqualified lenders. Therefore, from the lenders who consented (or voted "yes"), only about 10.77 per cent are not disqualified lenders. The percentage of disqualified lenders who consented in proportion to non-disqualified lenders is 6.61 per cent. This would, perforce, mean that GLAS has the authority to represent only 17.38 per cent of the term loan," he said.
Time of India
25 minutes ago
- Time of India
Opec+ giants pump out additional oil to India
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia , Russia, Iraq and the UAE—the heavyweights of the Opec+ producers' alliance and India's top four suppliers—are ramping up oil production and directing most of their additional output to India, boosting their combined market share to nearly 78% in the world's third-largest oil consumer. In May, these four countries supplied 375,000 barrels per day (bpd) more to India than in April, according to energy cargo tracker even higher than the 359,000 bpd they had collectively committed to additionally produce under Opec+'s plan to raise output by 409,000 bpd. Saudi Arabia, the biggest contributor to the group's supply increase, delivered the largest incremental volume to India in May, expanding its market share by 3 percentage points over April to 13.1%. The gain was driven by price cuts offered to Asian buyers. Saudi Aramco had cut the May OSP for Arab Light—its flagship grade—by $2.30 per has brought down the premium to $1.20 above the Oman/Dubai benchmark for Asian buyers. The premium remains at $1.20 for July loadings, after briefly rising to $1.40 for June.'The recent Saudi Aramco's official selling price (OSP) cuts for May loadings—close to four-year lows—along with the widening Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS) made Middle Eastern crude grades more competitively priced than other Brent-linked crudes,' said Xavier Tang, market analyst at Vortexa. 'Production increases from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members play an essential role in the Dubai crude price structure.'Saudi Arabia's aggressive pricing strategy comes as global suppliers compete for a larger share of India's growing crude market. 'Saudi is offering attractive prices to gain share in India,' an Indian refinery executive told ET. China, despite having a much larger oil market, has seen demand slow as buyers increasingly shift to electric vehicles, he retained the top position among India's crude suppliers, thanks to continued discounts on its part of the OPEC+ May supply boost, Saudi Arabia had agreed to increase output by 166,000 bpd, Russia by 79,000 bpd, Iraq by 37,000 bpd and the UAE by 77,000 bpd. Their respective exports to India rose by 135,673 bpd, 114,016 bpd, 66,642 bpd and 58,365 bpd. This translated into market shares of 13.1%, 35.4%, 21.4% and 7.6% in May. Collectively, their share rose 8.1 percentage points to 77.5%. These gains came at the expense of African suppliers, whose share in India's crude imports fell to 4.9% in May from 11.8% in April. US crude exports to India also declined, reducing its share to 5.7% from 7%.Eight OPEC+ countries have agreed to raise output by another 411,000 bpd in June and again in July. The rising supply has put pressure on prices, which have hovered between $60-65 per barrel for more than two months, well below the 2024 average of $80.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
India is world's bright spot, set to overtake Japan: WEF chief Borge Brende
Even as trade tensions escalate, global growth slows, and geopolitical risks mount, the President and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Brge Brende, says India is emerging as the world's most resilient major to Business Today's Siddharth Zarabi and India Today Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai, Brende said that among all large economies, India is currently outperforming expectations and may soon leapfrog Japan to become the world's fourth-largest the largest economies of the world, India is the bright spot. It is really doing well. In the last quarter, it even did better than expected—7.5% growth,' Brende said. 'If it continues like this, India will be the fourth-largest economy in the world—$5 trillion—maybe already this year, and take over the fourth place from Japan.' His comments come as the WEF's 2025 global outlook warns of serious headwinds, including rising trade barriers, record-high debt levels, and a fragmented geopolitical order. Brende noted that global growth is now 'far below trend,' with trade slowing to levels not seen in decades. But India, he said, has managed to buck the also praised India's positioning in a rapidly changing global trade order.'There is a change in trade that is more structural. Trade in services and digital trade are growing three times faster than trade in manufacturing,' he said. 'I think this is one of the reasons why India is doing relatively well—because India is very strong on services and digital trade.'advertisementIndia's rising influence isn't just economic—it is becoming more strategic, Brende noted, especially as companies and countries reconfigure supply chains after the pandemic and amid ongoing US-China tensions.'Just in time is not good enough anymore. You have to have just in case,' he said. 'We are seeing friend-shoring, home-shoring, and near-shoring. That complicates things, but India is well-positioned to benefit.'He pointed to the rapid rise of India's manufacturing ecosystem as a case in point.'A few years ago, there were no iPhones produced in India. Now, 25% of the production comes from India,' he said. 'And the US administration is already saying iPhones should be produced in the US. So there are first questions there. But India has a huge opportunity.'He also highlighted India's demographic advantage and its role in the digital economy.'The median age in India is 28 years. The workforce is growing every year, and there is a lot of tech-savvy talent. That helps when it comes to the digital revolution,' Brende he cautioned that sustaining high growth will require India to keep pushing reforms.'If India is going to keep the growth, there has to be deregulation, less red tape, better infrastructure, and coordination between states. If that happens, India will geopolitically and geo-economically play a significant role in the coming decades.'
