Mumbai: Due to higher demand for dollars from importers and rise in the greenback after strong non-farm payrolls data in the US, Rupee is unlikely to maintain the momentum raise high in this week. Analysts said the rupee is likely to open on a weaker note on Monday on concerns over early withdrawal of monthly asset purchases by the US Federal Reserve.
"The rupee is at the 61 level, and at this level we will see lot of buying coming in from importers," said KN Reghunathan, treasurer at the state-run Union Bank of India. The current account deficit narrowed to USD 4.2 billion of GDP, in the December quarter on the back of rise in exports and fall in gold imports, according to the government data.
The rupee ended at a three-month low of 61.07 against the greenback on March 7. It also touched an intra-day low of 60.90. From the lifetime low of 68.85 recorded on August 28, the rupee has rallied 11.3 per cent
The US economy added in 175,000 non-farm payrolls in February as against an addition of 129,000 in January. "A strong jobs data show that the US economy is recovering and so tapering will be faster than expected. I see the rupee to be under pressure and might open at 61.20 on Monday," said a senior forex dealer with a state-owned bank.
It is also expected that the Reserve Bank will buy dollars from the market if the rupee rises above 60.50 level to replenish the forex reserves. .
