The Rupee opened stronger on Thursday after a massive $127 billion mobilisation through foreign-currency non-resident bank deposits ?far exceeded market expectations, bolstering the central bank's capacity to support ?the currency. India attracted a much larger-than-expected $136.38 billion ?through special foreign-currency mobilisation schemes, the Reserve Bank of India said on ?Wednesday, swelling India's FX reserves and providing RBI more scope to ?contain pressure on the rupee. The sheer size of the inflows is likely to fuel another leg ?higher in the rupee, extending a rally that has surprised the market, he said. The rupee is also likely to draw support ?from strength in ?Asian currencies and ?a pullback in the dollar index, which has slipped below 99.50. The dollar's retreat has been driven largely by a ?rally in the Japanese yen. Investors are now awaiting fresh U.S. ?economic data ?and comments from Federal Reserve officials for clues on the central bank's policy path and whether it will raise rates this month. The yen extended gains on Thursday after a sudden burst ?higher in the previous session, though traders stopped short of attributing the move to Japanese authorities and instead pointed ?to a hawkish repricing of domestic rate expectations. The yen rose to an intraday peak of 157.95 per dollar in Asia, extending its 0.9% jump overnight that initially put markets on alert for any official intervention from Tokyo, though the scale and fleeting nature of the move suggested otherwise. The Japanese ?currency's rally was broad-based, with the euro last down 0.38% to 183.27 yen, while sterling similarly fell 0.36% to 213.21 ?yen . In the broader market, the strength in the yen left the U.S. dollar on the back foot, with the euro up marginally to $1.1593. Sterling bounced from a three-week low and last bought $1.3489. The New Zealand dollar rose 0.13% to $0.5860, having slid 0.67% on Wednesday following a dovish hike from the country's central bank, while the Aussie held near a more than three-month high at $0.7166. Against a basket of ?currencies, the dollar eased 0.14% ?to 99.46. The Canadian dollar extended ?overnight gains and stood at C$1.3833, after the Bank of CanadaOil prices edged lower on Thursday as investors weighed the uncertainty of renewed military strikes between the U.S. and Iran that ?risk disrupting supplies from the Middle East. Brent crude futures fell 43 cents, ?or 0.45%, to $95.2 a barrel at 0029 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 24 cents, or 0.26%, at $90.77. held rates on Wednesday, though it signalled its readiness to tighten policy to rein in inflation.......
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