Indian rupee opened lower against the greenback on Wednesday, with focus shifting to the Fed policy meet and US China trade talks.

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The government will table the interim Budget on Friday and according to market experts, rupee is likely to react negatively in the short term, if government gives the populist budget.

At 09:10 AM, the rupee was trading at 71.32 a dollar, down 21 paise from its Tuesday’s close of 71.11. The home currency opened at 71.38 and touched a high and a low of 71.32 and 71.38 a dollar, respectively.

The local currency lost some ground today despite a steady US dollar. The dollar was locked in a narrow trading range, with traders awaited possible clues from the Federal Reserve on whether it might pause from its current rate-hike campaign. Fed policy-makers began a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday.

Fed policy-makers are expected to release a policy statement on Wednesday at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT), followed by a press conference with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

Traders are also reluctant to take big positions ahead of US President Donald Trump and Chinese vice premier Liu He scheduled meeting in Washington for trade talks, set for Wednesday and Thursday.

Oil prices dipped amid a cloudy outlook for the global economy, but traders said declines were reined in by worries over disruptions to supply from US sanctions on Venezuelan fuel exports, reported Reuters.

International Brent crude oil futures were 6 cents below their last close, at $61.26 per barrel.

Meanwhile, foreign funds sold shares worth Rs 354.36 crore from the capital markets on a net basis, while the domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 81.27 crore Tuesday, provisional data showed.

In debt markets, the yields on the 10-year government bonds up 0.12 percent to 7.33 percent from its previous close of 7.32 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

First Published:Jan 30, 2019 9:18 AM IST