The Indian rupee ended the session lower at 83.1475/1575 levels compared to its opening at 83.08/09 levels after touching the low of 83.1575/1675 levels sidestepping strength in its Asian peers as local dollar demand ate into the currency's early gains that came after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its policy rates and dot plot for 2024 unchanged. Rupee traded in a range of 83.0475-83.1575 level today. Dollar demand from corporates and debt repayment outflows pressured the rupee today. Meanwhile, dollar-rupee forward premiums rose, with the 1-year implied yield up 2 bps to 1.63%, aided by a fall in U.S. bond yields. Indian government bond yields were down tracking a fall in U.S. yields. Indian shares rose today, helped by metals stocks, joining a global equity rally after the Federal Reserve maintained its projection of three interest rate cuts this year. The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index advanced 0.79% to 22,011.95, while the BSE Sensex added 0.75% to 72,641.19. In the forward segment 1mth, 3mth and 6mth annualized premia ended the day at 0.88%, 1.06% and 1.26% respectively.

The Swiss franc fell sharply against the dollar on Thursday and hit its weakest since last July against the euro, after the Swiss National Bank (SNB) unexpectedly cut interest rates, while the pound edged lower ahead of a Bank of England (BoE) meeting. The SNB cut its main interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.50%, a surprise move which made it the first major central bank to dial back tighter monetary policy aimed at tackling inflation. A majority of analysts polled by Reuters had expected the SNB to keep rates on hold at 1.75%. It was also the first rate cut by the SNB in nine years. All eyes will be on BoE meeting later in the day, at which the central bank is expected to keep UK rates on hold, although there is a degree of uncertainty over what it might say about the outlook for monetary policy. British inflation slowed in February, official data on Wednesday showed, keeping the BoE on track to start cutting borrowing costs later this year. The Norwegian crown steadied against the dollar, after Norges Bank kept its rate unchanged, as expected. The yen steadied against a strengthening dollar as it drew some support from expectations of further rate hikes from the Bank of Japan later this year and some jawboning efforts from Japanese government officials. The yen was last 0.1% higher on the day at 151.12, after rallying in Asian trading hours and reversing some of its heavy losses in the wake of this week's BOJ policy pivot. In a week packed with central banks meetings, the Federal Reserve maintained on Wednesday its projections for interest rate cuts for the year in the face of upside surprises on inflation, and did not strike a more hawkish tone as some investors had feared. The Australian dollar jumped after data on Thursday showed employment rebounded sharply in February and the jobless rate dived far below forecasts, pointing to a still-tight labour market.