Friday, August 07
The Indian rupee hit a record low against the dollar on Thursday, pressured by dollar demand linked to the maturity of non-deliverable forward positions and corporate hedging, while the central bank likely intervened to hold it above the psychologically significant 92 level. The rupee ended the session at 91.9550 per dollar, down 0.2% from its previous close. Earlier in the session, it fell to 91.9850. Weakness in the currency also spilled over to Indian government bonds, reinforcing a dilemma for the market wherein the Reserve Bank of India's efforts to shore up banking system liquidity get blunted by its FX market interventions.The central bank intervened on Thursday as well to cap the rupee's fall, traders said. Expectations of the rupee depreciating further are
Mumbai: The Economic Survey 2026 has flagged structural gaps in the microfinance sector, urging microfinance institutions (MFIs) to strengthen credit assessment and product design to rein in aggressive lending and rising borrower stress. The Survey noted that MFIs largely do not offer tailored credit products with differential pricing across borrower categories, limiting their ability to appropriately price risk.The Economic Survey also noted that while private equity and venture capital funding has fuelled the expansion of the microfinance sector, it has also been accompanied by recurring stress, including over-lending and over-indebtedness.“MFIs are presently not seen to offer tailored credit with differential pricing for different categories,” the Survey said. “In some instances,
Mumbai: A weaker rupee against the US dollar has historically whipped up trader interest in shares of India's export-heavy IT and pharma sectors. This time, even as the currency slid to record lows, the enthusiasm has been missing, as tariff worries overshadow the benefits of a weaker rupee. The rupee fell to an all-time low of 91.97 in the past week against the US dollar and closed at 91.78 on Wednesday after six straight weeks of decline. Since April 1, 2025, the rupee has declined 7.1% against the dollar. In this period, the Nifty IT index gained 5%, while the Nifty Pharma rose 3%. The benchmark Nifty advanced nearly 8%. "Despite the currency depreciation, the uncertainties on the tariff front weighed significantly on export-facing IT and pharma stocks owing to concerns on the viability
Mumbai: Indian upstream oil explorers surged on Wednesday, tracking a sharp rise in global crude prices after Winter Storm Fern disrupted US output, tightening near-term supply. A weakening US dollar against a basket of currencies also perked up sentiment in the oil market. Shares of Oil India jumped as much as 10% to a fresh 52-week high of ₹492, while ONGC climbed up to 8% to ₹268 on NSE. The Nifty Oil & Gas Index rose 3.4%, outperforming the benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex, which added 0.6%.127744646 Analysts attributed the rally to a rebound in crude prices after the storm shut nearly 15% of US oil production and briefly halted crude exports from the US Gulf Coast over the weekend, tightening global supply in the near term. Stable crude prices directly support upstream compa
