Non-deliverable forwards indicate the rupee will open at
around 82.62-82.64 to the U.S. dollar, compared with its close of 82.7325 in
the previous session.
The currency has not been able to hold onto its opening
gains in each of the last three sessions. It dropped to 82.80 on Wednesday.
Based on the recent price action and the modest moves on
Asian currencies, "it will be no surprise" if the rupee struggles
after the opening gains, a forex trader at a Mumbai-based bank said.
Asian currencies were up 0.1% to 0.2% after the dollar index
fell for the third straight day on Wednesday to reach a two-week low.
The dollar index dropped to near 103 and U.S. Treasury
retreated after weaker-than-expected growth and labour market data lowered
expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates further.
U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 2.1% annualized
pace in the last quarter, lower than the preliminary estimate of 2.4% growth.
Meanwhile, U.S. private payrolls increased by a lesser-than-expected 177,000
jobs last month.
"U.S. macro data continued the softer theme that
started a few days earlier," ING Bank said in a note.
The 2-year U.S. Treasury yield inched lower on Wednesday and
U.S. equities rose.
India's GDP data is due later in the day. India's economic
growth likely accelerated to 7.7%, the fastest annual pace in a year, on robust
service sector growth, a Reuters poll found.
"The GDP data is not going to have much of an impact on
the rupee," the fx trader said. -Reuters