Rupee opened lower by 28 paise at 70.68 per US dollar on Thursday against 70.40 yesterday after the US Federal Reserve hiked rates. The Fed statement on Wednesday sounded “less dovish” than expected, traders told Reuters. The domestic currency closed at 70.39 on Wednesday.
The bonds also fell as Fed rate hike fears continued to loom. The 10-year benchmark bond yield eased to 7.24 percent from previous close of 7.22 percent.
The domestic stock markets – Sensex and Nifty – opened lower after the Federal Reserve rate hike spooked global markets. Sensex shed 270 points in the opening trade to 36,213.73, while the Nifty 50 was trading below 10,900-mark.
Shares of India’s major automaker Maruti Suzuki slumped by more than 1.7 per cent to hit Rs7,800, after the firm cut sales growth forecast 8 per cent, and said that double digit sales growth in FY19 is unrealistic. Jet Airways shares gained more than 1% ahead of its board meet today to discuss fund raising options.
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve raised the benchmark interest rate a quarter-point but lowered its projections for future hikes in a move that marked the fourth increase this year and the ninth since it began normalising rates in December 2015.