Rupee closes little changed ahead of US inflation print
By Jaspreet Kalra
MUMBAI, Sept 11 (Reuters) -The Indian rupee ended little changed on Wednesday ahead of a closely watched U.S. consumer inflation print that is expected to influence expectations on Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
The rupee INR=IN closed at 83.9775 against the U.S. dollar, barely unchanged from its close of 83.9750 in the previous session.
There was "decent dollar demand," from importers and state-run banks through the session but inflows related to initial public offerings (IPO) helped the rupee, a foreign exchange trader at a private bank said.
Bajaj Housing Finance's $782 million IPO closed on Wednesday during a week slated to be the busiest for Indian IPOs so far this year.
Meanwhile, dollar-rupee forward premiums rose, with the one-year implied yield touching a 16-month peak of 2.25%, aided by a rise in the overnight swap rate and a decline in U.S. bond yields.
The dollar was also on the backfoot after investors upped the chances of Democrat Kamala Harris beating Republican rival Donald Trump in November's U.S. presidential election after a debate on Tuesday.
Most investors expect a Trump victory in November to boost the greenback.
Focus now turns to U.S. consumer price index (CPI) data later in the day that is expected to show that month-on-month core CPI stood at 0.2% in August, the same as July.
"Lower perceived chances of a Trump win can keep a lid on dollar gains, and barring a substantial CPI upside surprise," the dollar index may struggle to make its way back to 102.0 before the Fed's policy decision next week, ING Bank said in a note.
The dollar index fell 0.3% on Wednesday to 101.3, while U.S. bond yields dipped. Asian currencies rose, with the Philippine peso up 0.6% and leading gains.
Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Sonia Cheema
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