MUMBAI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee on Wednesday managed to receive support from speculators after opening weaker following the hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data.
The rupee was at 83.0850 to the U.S. dollar at 10:42 a.m. IST compared with 83.0025 in the previous session.
The local currency opened at 83.1050 after U.S. consumer prices rose more than expected, suggesting a further delay in interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
The rupee following the open is finding support from "stray offers (on USD/INR)", which are "basically just speculators taken in by the decent move higher in a range bound market", an FX trader at a bank said.
The persistently narrow range on USD/INR meant that shallow dips of 15-20 paisa find buyers and small rallies see offers, he explained.
Odds of a Fed rate cut in March were down to less than 10% , and that for May dropped to near 30% after data indicated that U.S. inflation was proving to be sticky.
Investors now reckon that a Fed rate cut is likely only in June and that the U.S. central bank will deliver less than 100 basis points of rate cuts in 2024. At the beginning of the year, investors had priced in more than six rate cuts.
"In our view, a March cut is now firmly off the table and the chances of a May cut have significantly reduced," BofA Securities said in a note.
"We remain comfortable with our call for rate cuts to begin in June. While risks are now obviously skewed toward a delay, there will be four more CPI prints before the June decision, which leaves plenty of time to re-establish the disinflation narrative."
(Reporting by Nimesh Vora; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
