DAILY FOREX REPORT FOR 16 FEB 2016

Rupee opens marginally higher at 68.19 per dollar

The Indian rupee has opened marginally higher at 68.19 a dollar on Monday against Friday's close of 68.23 a dollar. Agam Gupta of Standard Chartered feels USD INR should open broadly unchanged from Friday's close. He expects a rangebound day with importers picking up USD on any dips to Rs 68.00-68.05/USD and exporters are looking to hedge their receivables if it gets an intraday spike to Rs 68.35-68.40/USD. Gupta says global equities ended Friday in the positive and that should keep local
sentiment risk positive for the day. He expects the USD-INR to trade in a Rs 68.00-68.40/USD range for today.

Yuans hits 2016 high against $ after PBOC speaks on FX strategy

The yuan hit a 2016 high on Monday, after the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set its official midpoint rate sharply stronger against the dollar and the central bank governor talked up the currency. The PBOC set the yuan at 6.5118 per dollar prior to the market open on Monday, up from 6.5314 on February 5, the final fix before the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday. The central bank sets a daily midpoint, or reference rate, and allows the yuan to trade 2 percent above or below this point, as the country makes the transition to a market based currency valuation.The spot market opened on Monday at 6.5300 yuan per dollar andthe yuan hit an intraday high of 6.4988 in late morning trade, before trimming some gains; it was changing hands at 6.5020 at midday, up 1.1 percent on the previous close