The partially convertible rupee was down 0.07% at 79.8475 by mid-morning, trading in a narrow 4 paisa range.
"One thing that is supporting the rupee is possibly the RBI's intervention," said Anitha Rangan, economist at Equirus, adding that a moderation in external flows into Indian debt and equities was also a positive.
The rupee held its ground better than Asian emerging currencies that dropped as the dollar index, which measures against six majors, zoomed past 110 due to a worsening energy crisis in Europe. [FRX/]
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley conducted an investor survey and concluded that JP Morgan could announce the inclusion of Indian bonds in its widely tracked emerging market index by September.
The inflows from inclusion, likely to come in sometime next year, are seen around $30 billion. Earlier in the day, yields on India's 10-year paper fell three basis points to 7.209%. [IN/]
"It's a sentiment positive for bond markets, but it doesn't move the needle much for currency markets as flows will be staggered," Equirus' Rangan said.
There are a lot of details that need to be hashed out, including a policy change on taxation, she added.
Meanwhile, a foreign exchange trader at a state-run bank cast doubts on the timing of inclusion, saying he believed September was too soon for an announcement.
(Reporting by Anushka Trivedi;Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
By Anushka Trivedi
