The Rupee opened steady against the dollar as market participants await more data from the US to gauge when the US Federal Reserve is likely to cut rates this year. The dollar index has remained stable above the 106 mark, which is likely to put some pressure on the rupee. The index surged past the 106 mark two weeks ago after a slew of data from the US indicated that the economy was still running hot. For further movement in the dollar index, investors would be looking at the US Jan-Mar GDP advance estimate, due on Thursday, and personal consumption and expenditure data on Friday, for cues on the Fed's rate trajectory. The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 106.08, compared to 106.12 on Monday as well as on Friday. Analysing the state of the US economy, market participants have now scaled down their expectations of the number of rate cuts this year. Fed funds futures traders have now deferred their expectations of a 25-basis-point rate cut from June to September. After the US GDP data on Thursday, market participants will await data on personal consumption price expenditure and the Bank of Japan's policy meeting outcome, both due on Friday. A drop in prices of crude oil is expected to provide some support to the Indian currency, dealers said. Oil prices remained down after tensions between Israel and Iran eased, dealers said. Moreover, US crude oil inventories are expected to have risen in the last week, while refined product stockpiles are likely to have dropped, as per a Reuters poll of analysts. This is expected to cool down prices further. The June contract of Brent crude oil on the Intercontinental Exchange was at $87.21 a barrel, against $87.00 a bbl on Monday. It settled at $87.29 a bbl on Friday. Gold prices fell over 2% to a one-week low on Monday, as concerns regarding a broader West Asia conflict eased, which led investors to reduce safe-haven trades and opt for riskier assets such as equities. Jun gold futures (ounce): $2,346.40 Monday vs $2,413.8 Friday......
The US dollar weakened sharply against other major currencies after data showed that the US economy suffered a record contraction in Apr-Jun, while jobless claims rose in the week ended Saturday also rose.The US unit also extended its decline globally on Thursday after Trump raised the possibility of delaying presidential election in the US, scheduled for November.European Stocks ended lower on Thursday due to mounting concern over sluggish economic recovery and a possible second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.Germany reported its worst decline in GDP since 1970, with the Eurozone’s largest economy shrinking 10.1% quarter-on-quarter in Apr-Jun.Corporate earnings were high on investors' agenda on Thursday.In the US, Most share indices ended lower on Wednesday following bleak economic data.Lack of progress in talks between Congressional Democrats, Republicans and the White House on a new coronavirus aid package also weighed on sentiment.Gold futures settled lower on Thursday after nine consecutive days of gains, with the bullion retreating from a record rally as traders booked some profit.......