Rupee jumps 119 paise to 90.30 against the US dollar on India-US trade deal
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated 119 paise to 90.30 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, after US tariffs on India were cut from 50 per cent to 18 per cent.
Forex traders said the 18 per cent tariff changes the story, improving India’s relative position and reopening the door for FII participation.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.30 against the US dollar, registering a gain of 119 paise over its previous close of 91.49.
"The good news overnight was the US-India trade deal which was announced after a delay of almost 9 months by President Donald Trump and endorsed by PM Narendra Modi in which the trade tariffs were reduced to 18 per cent, a tad lower than what it is for Bangladesh and Pakistan our neighbours giving our exporters a relative advantage," said Anil Kumar Bhansali Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
Bhansali further noted that FIIs may finally buy Indian equities after being sellers for such a long time.
"We need to wait and see the RBI stance today and in the coming days as it needs to buy the short dollar position," he added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.20 per cent lower at 97.43.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.41 per cent at USD 66.03 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 2138.08 points or 2.62 per cent higher at 83,804.54, while the Nifty was up 607 points or 2.42 per cent at 25,695.40.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,832.46 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
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SC slams WhatsApp, Meta over privacy policy, says will pass interim order on Feb 9
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp while hearing their appeals against a Competition Commission of India order imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore over the privacy policy, saying tech giants cannot “play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing”.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said that it will pass an interim order on February 9. The top court ordered that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology be made a party to the petitions.
It was hearing appeals filed by Meta and WhatsApp against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judgment that upheld the CCI’s findings of abuse of dominance, while granting limited relief on advertising-related data sharing.
"You can't play with the right of privacy of this country in the name of data sharing. We will not allow you to share a single word of the data, either you give an undertaking...you cannot violate the right of privacy of citizens,” the CJI said.
The bench said the right to privacy is zealously guarded in the country and noted that the privacy terms are “so cleverly crafted” that a common person cannot understand them.
“This is a decent way of committing theft of private information, we will not allow you to do that... You have to give an undertaking otherwise, we have to pass an order,” the CJI said.
