CURRENCY OVERVIEW

The Rupee opened weaker after the dollar was riding high on Thursday after notching its sharpest gain in six weeks as Fed minutes made a December U.S. rate cut seem less likely, while the yen tumbled on bets that Japan would not immediately step in to stem its weakness. The yen fell 1% to a 10-month low of 157.18 per dollar overnight in a slide that began after Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said there was no specific discussion on foreign exchange at a meeting with Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda. The yen is down around 6% since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was elected leader of her party, in spite of rising Japanese yields, as markets are uneasy about the scale of borrowing needed to fund her stimulus plans. The yen hovered around 157 to the dollar in morning trade, near where it began the year, and traders now figure Japanese authorities may step in somewhere around the 160 mark, or if there are any more sudden moves. The euro notched about a 0.4% fall overnight and was steady in early trade on Thursday at $1.1528. Sterling fell about 0.7% to a two-week low of $1.3043. The New Zealand dollar dived 1% and touched a seven-month trough of $0.5591 as the outlooks for interest rates in New Zealand and the U.S. diverge. A rate cut next week is fully priced in for New Zealand. In the U.S., expectations for a December cut have fallen below 25%, after being priced as a near-certainty a month ago. The dollar index rose 0.5% overnight, climbing through its 200-day moving average, and was last up 0.1% at 100.17. Gold prices pared gains on Wednesday after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, while market participants focused on upcoming economic data for further clues on the U.S. interest rate path. Spot gold was up 0.2% at $4,073.79 per ounce, at 2:25 p.m. ET (1925 GMT), after climbing over 1% earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for December settled 0.4% higher at $4,082.80. Oil prices edged higher on Thursday, recovering from losses in the previous session, as markets assessed the latest U.S. proposals to end the war in Ukraine and prepared for a U.S. deadline to cease operations with two major Russian oil firms. Brent crude futures climbed 21 cents, or 0.33%, to $63.72 a barrel at 0142 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 24 cents, or 0.40%, to $59.68.

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