Rupee reaches 2-wk high on weak dollar, eyes US jobs data

The Indian rupee rose to a more than 2-week high on Friday, helped by the dollar's decline against its major peers and Asian currencies on mounting expectations that the Federal Reserve will not hike rates this month, The rupee was at 82.3525 against the U.S. dollar by 11 a.m. IST, compared to 82.4050 on Thursday. It had reached a high of 82.31, the highest since May 17. The USD/INR pair falling below 82.50 is a sign of weakness in the uptrend and short-term traders will now be watching 82.30 levels, said Dilip Parmar, research analyst at HDFC Securities. The USD/INR is managing to take support at 82.30, which is to be expected after the relatively quick move lower and with U.S. jobs data on tap, an fx spot trader at a private bank said.

U.S. jobs report, due later in the day, is expected to show that the world's largest economy added 190,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate is forecast to inch up and wage growth is pegged at 0.3 per cent month-on-month. Any positive surprise could put a June Fed rate hike back in the mix, according to analysts. Odds of a rate hike this month have come off on less hawkish remarks from two Fed policymakers and an article in The Wall Street Journal that said the U.S. central bank will pause. Pressured by this, the dollar index pulled back on Thursday. Asian currencies were higher on the day.