The Rupee opened little changed on Friday, with the tug-of-war between steady importer dollar demand and persistent central ?bank support expected to keep the currency anchored near 95.50 per ?U.S. dollar ahead of the Federal Reserve chief's closely watched speech. Oil prices near $90 a barrel have been largely absorbed by the market, bankers said, while the Reserve Bank ?of India's likely continued intervention is expected to make a move beyond 96.00 ?difficult. Meanwhile, moves towards 95.00 are likely to draw fresh hedging demand from importers, according to ?bankers. ?The result is a market effectively bracketed by the RBI on one side and dollar demand from importers on the other. The U.S. dollar held ?flat near a one-week high against major peers on Friday, as investors stood on the ?sidelines ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium for clues on his policy outlook. The euro and sterling were subdued near one-week lows against the greenback, last at $1.1652 and $1.3597, respectively, though both remained on track for a second ?straight monthly gain. The yen was little changed at 159.34 per dollar, having surrendered part of its intervention driven gains but it was still headed for a 1.3% monthly rise. The dollar index , which measures ?the currency against six major peers, was little changed at 99.13 in early Asian trade. It has risen 0.3% ?this week but remains on track for a second straight monthly decline of 0.7% after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott ?Bessent said the Treasury would increase buybacks of longer-dated bonds. That has fuelled concerns that efforts to suppress borrowing costs could debase the dollar. Oil prices fell on Friday and are on track to snap a two-week winning streak, despite settling ?higher in the previous session following a report that U.S. ?President Donald Trump is not interested in returning to previous deal terms with Iran. Brent crude futures were down 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $89.45 a ?barrel by 0035 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude futures ?fell 22 cents, also 0.3%, to $83.31.......
More