MUMBAI, June 11 (Reuters) – The Indian rupee nudged higher in early trading on Wednesday, aided by mild U.S. dollar sales by foreign banks, while Asian currencies were steady after the U.S. and China agreed on a framework to ease trade tensions.
The rupee was at 85.46 as of 10:00 a.m. IST, up about 0.2% from its close at 85.6025 in the previous session.
The South Asian currency, alongside its regional peers, has witnessed range-bound price action over recent trading sessions as concerns over a trade war between the world’s two largest economies eased, cooling volatility.
At the end of two days of negotiations, U.S. and Chinese officials said on Tuesday the framework also included removing China’s export restrictions on rare earths.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the framework deal puts “meat on the bones” of an agreement reached last month in Geneva to ease bilateral retaliatory tariffs.
“The latest talks appear to be a constructive step forward, reducing the risk of a full-blown trade war,” MUFG Bank said in a note.
The positive conclusion of the talks “could help Asian currencies to consolidate their recent gains against the US dollar,” the note added.
Meanwhile, Indian and U.S. officials also made progress in bilateral trade talks in New Delhi, according to Indian government sources.
On the day, modest dollar sales from at least two large foreign banks, likely on behalf of custodial clients, helped the rupee out, a trader at a state-run bank said.
U.S. consumer price inflation data will be in focus later on Wednesday for cues on the future path of the Federal Reserve’s benchmark policy rates. Interest rate futures are currently pricing in about 43 basis points worth of rate cuts over the remainder of 2025. (Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)
