CURRENCY OVERVIEW

 The Rupee opened weaker on Tuesday, mirroring losses in the offshore Chinese yuan, triggered by soft economic data and the daily central bank fix. Recent price action suggests "sizeable" buying interest in USD/INR in the 84-84.25 range, a currency trader at a Mumbai-based bank said. Further, the rupee appears more vulnerable than usual to moves in Asian currencies, especially the yuan, he added. The offshore Chinese yuan dropped 0.5% to weaken to 7.2350 to the U.S. dollar. The offshore yuan had hit a multi-month high of 7.1832 on Monday. The People's Bank of China's yuan midpoint deviation from the neutral forecast narrowed to -500 pips from -700 pips, which analysts said was a sign that the central bank wants to curb rapid appreciation in the yuan.  Other Asian currencies dropped alongside the yuan. The Malaysian ringgit declined 0.8% and the Indonesian rupiah slipped 0.3%. The Taiwanese dollar dropped 3%. The decline in Asian currencies came after a recent rally on optimism that the worst of the U.S. tariff concerns had passed. Both the U.S. and China have signalled a willingness to resume trade talks, while President Donald Trump indicated that Washington is pursuing trade deals with India, South Korea, and Japan. The rupee, buoyed by the rally in Asian currencies, had strengthened to 83.77 last Friday before the Reserve Bank of India intervened to cap further appreciation. The dollar struggled to make headway on Tuesday as an unprecedented two-day surge in its Taiwanese counterpart spilled over to other regional peers and highlighted the fragility of the U.S. currency. Hong Kong's de-facto central bank said earlier in the day it bought $7.8 billion (HK$60.5 billion) to stop the local currency from strengthening and breaking its peg to the U.S. dollar. Currencies like the Australian dollar and the yen also benefited from the fallout, with the Aussie last hovering near Monday's five-month high at $0.6449. The yen was slightly weaker at 143.99 per dollar, but that followed a 0.9% surge overnight. China's onshore yuan strengthened to its highest level since March 20 at 7.23 per dollar, following the reopen of trade after an extended break. Elsewhere, the euro fell 0.25% to $1.1287, while sterling eased 0.24% to $1.3265. The New Zealand dollar was down 0.3% at $0.5949. Oil prices rebounded over 1% on Tuesday with technical rebound and dip buying after a drop in prior session by OPEC+ decision to accelerate increases in output, although concerns about the market surplus outlook persisted. Brent crude futures rose 92 cents to $61.15 a barrel by 0309 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude added 89 cents to $58.02 a barrel.