The Rupee opened under pressure through Wednesday's session, with Brent crude nearing $90 a barrel and ?weaker Asian currencies weighing on sentiment, while the central bank ?is likely to limit the decline. The local ?currency has remained under pressure since breaking past the 95 level ?last Wednesday, with oil prices continuing to rise amid ?uncertainty surrounding an end to the U.S.-Iran conflict. The resulting dollar demand is adding pressure on the rupee and offsetting the positive sentiment from Reserve Bank of India interventions. In the two trading sessions this ?week, the RBI has been selling dollars through state-run banks to ?limit the rupee's losses, and traders say the currency would likely have weakened more ?without ?the support. U.S. inflation data due later in the day ?could provide ?clues on whether the Federal Reserve will raise rates next month. Markets are currently split on the prospect of a hike. he dollar traded sideways in early Asian dealings on Wednesday, shrugging off ?renewed attacks on shippping in critical waterways in the Middle East, as currency markets awaited the release of inflation data later in the global day. The yen was flat against the dollar at 159.335 yen, hovering around its weakest levels of ?the month despite the recent joint intervention by U.S. and Japanese authorities to strengthen the Japanese ?currency, while the euro held steady at $1.1537. The British pound was also unchanged at $1.3503. The Australian ?dollar was flat at $0.7064. The kiwi dollar was down 0.1% at $0.5876 after New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher ?Luxon said on Wednesday he had won a confidence vote of ruling party lawmakers, following speculation about his ?leadership months from a general election. The U.S. dollar index , which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was up 0.1% at 99.858. Oil prices edged up as trading resumed in Asia on Wednesday, with Brent crude 0.8% higher at $89.61 a barrel after an attack by ?Iran-backed Houthis on a ?cargo ship in the ?Bab el-Mandeb strait and a U.S. military strike on a container ship off Pakistan attempting to break its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices rose on ?Wednesday morning as doubts about a U.S.-Iran peace deal and attacks on two ships ?fuelled concerns about Middle East supply disruptions, even as industry data showed U.S. crude inventories expanded. Brent futures gained 72 cents, or 0.81%, to $89.63 a barrel by 0053 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 71 ?cents, or 0.85%, to $83.91.......
More