Rupee ends weaker at 68.13 against US Dollar

The dollar index rose to its highest since April 2003 and was set for its biggest weekly gain in a year after Fed Chair Janet Yellen provided a strong signal that US interest rates would likely increase by year-end.

At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.69-70, up from ¥109.00-01 at the same time Thursday.

US stocks are hardly changed in Friday morning trading as energy companies rise with the price of oil and health care stocks trade lower.

Further foreign institutional selling of local equities increased downward pressure on the Taiwan dollar and helped the USA dollar to close up for the second consecutive session on Friday, they said. An official said on Friday the country’s central bank is intervening in markets to support the beleaguered unit, which has lost five per cent since last week’s United States election result.

Fed chair Janet Yellen stated on Wednesday that an increase in short-term interest rates would “become appropriate relatively soon”.

Other high-yielding currencies also tumbled, with the Canadian, New Zealand and Australian dollars each off one percent.

Last week’s shock election of Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump has sent tremors through global markets, with developed nations seeing broad gains, but many in Southeast Asia anxious about his rhetoric on worldwide trade agreements.

Fiscal spending Data on Thursday suggesting the U.S. jobs market is tightening and inflation is gaining traction have bolstered a view that USA growth and inflation could accelerate if the Trump administration cuts taxes and increases fiscal spending.

Yellen cited the robust pace of the US economic recovery as a reason to increase rates.

QUEASY FEELING: Losses for drug companies weighed down healthcare stocks. Expectations of yield differentials also helped the Dollar gain on the Japanese Yen, in the wake of the Bank of Japan’s move on Thursday to buy unlimited bonds. The local unit hit a high of 67.99/$ and a low of 68.22/$ today. It has appreciated over the past two weeks as Treasury yields surged on speculation the new administration will boost spending.

Friday morning, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he is leaning toward supporting a rate hike next month and argued on Friday that the real question now is the Fed’s rate path in 2017.

Palladium dropped 1.9 percent to $714.14 an ounce, cutting its weekly gain to 5.6 percent.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gave up 40 cents at $45.02 a barrel in NY, while Brent crude, which is used to price global oils, slid 41 cents to $46.08 a barrel in London.

The broader NSE index was up 0.04 percent at 8,082.7 as of 0615 GMT, while the benchmark BSE index was 0.03 percent lower at 26,222.18. Warehouse club operator Costco lost $1.86, or 1.2 percent, to $150.28 and grocery store chain Kroger slid 75 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $32.95. They later eased to close at just over 2 per cent.