The Indian rupee opened higher on July 2, aided by a further drop in oil prices, though traders expect the relief to be short-lived amid weakness in Asian peers and higher U.S. yields.
The rupee opened with a gain of 32 paise at 94.92 against the US dollar on Thursday, compared to Wednesday's close of 95.24.
According to Firex, rupee to open at 95.10 and remain in the range of 94.80 to 95.50. Exporters may now wait to sell with a stop loss of 94.80 while importers to keep buying the dips.
A mixed-to-negative trend across Asian currencies, with six of the nine currencies weakening against the US dollar.
The South Korean won (-0.289%) and Indonesian rupiah (-0.251%) led the losses, while the Malaysian ringgit (+0.135%) and Thai baht (+0.114%) outperformed. The Japanese yen also posted a marginal gain (+0.025%), whereas the Philippine peso and Singapore dollar remained largely unchanged.
Meanwhile, the dollar held steady on Thursday as markets awaited key U.S. non-farm payrolls data, while the yen's slide to 40-year lows against the greenback and thin trading ahead of a U.S. holiday kept traders on high alert for intervention.