Crude oil futures to manage the price risk of natural rubber: Empirical evidence from India

The trading of natural rubber derivatives in the Indian commodity exchanges was banned several times in the past. Hence, in India, the derivatives on natural rubber are not traded actively and regularly. We have examined the possibility of a forecast model and a cross hedge tool for the natural rubber price by using crude oil futures in India. Results of the Johansen cointegration test proved that there is no cointegration equation in the model; hence, there is no scope to develop long-run models or error correction models. We have developed a vector autoregressive [VAR(2)] model to forecast the rubber price, and we examined the possibility of a cross hedge for natural rubber further by using the Pearson correlation coefficient and Granger causality test. We have extended our research to a structural VAR analysis to examine the effect of crude futures and exchange rate shocks on the natural rubber price. Our results showed that there is a short-term relationship between the crude oil futures price, the exchange rates of the US dollar to the Indian rupee, the Malaysian ringgit to the Indian rupee and the Thai baht to the Indian rupee; and the natural rubber price in India. The effort of policymakers to cause the Indian rupee to appreciate against the Thai baht and Malaysian ringgit may increase the natural rubber price in India. Natural rubber traders, growers and consumers can use crude futures to hedge the price risk. The Indian Rubber Board can suggest the VAR(2) model to predict the short-run price for natural rubber.

Bitcoin and Fiat Currency Interactions: Surprising Results from Asian Giants

This study examines the interaction of Bitcoin with fiat currencies of three developed (euro, pound sterling and yen) and three emerging (yuan, rupee and ruble) market economies. Empirical investigations are executed through symmetric, asymmetric and non-linear causality tests, and Markov regime-switching regression (MRSR) analysis. Results show that Bitcoin has a causal nexus with Chinese yuan and Indian rupee for price and various return components. The MRSR analysis justifies these findings by demonstrating the presence of interaction in contractionary regimes. Accordingly, it can be stated that when markets display a downward trend, appreciation of the Chinese yuan and Indian rupee positively and strongly affects the value of Bitcoin, possibly due to the market timing. The MRSR analysis also exhibits a transition from a tranquil to a crisis regime in March 2020 because of the pandemic. However, a shorter duration spent in the crisis regime in 2020 indicates the limited and relatively less harmful effect of the pandemic on the cryptocurrency market when compared to the turmoil that occurred in 2018.

A Study of Determinants of Indian Rupee Valuation against US Dollar

The value of the Indian Rupee (INR) is generally affected by demand and supply economics. India’s demand for oil and gold creates a demand for US dollars to settle the payments, as these payments need to be settled in hardcore currency. Along with this, any Indian firm’s investment outside the country also creates the demand for US Dollars for paying for the investment. On the other hand, the export of Indian goods and services, foreign direct investments (FDIs) by companies in Indian companies and subsidiaries, and the investment by foreigners in Indian stock and bond markets typically create the supply of US Dollars. Whenever the demand of INR exceeds the supply of INR, the currency appreciates and vice versa. The present paper is an effort to understand the major determinants of Indian rupee valuation conceptually. Inputs given in the paper are based on many previous studies on the same.

Testing the interest-parity condition with Irving Fisher's example of Indian rupee and sterling bonds in the London financial market, 1869–1906

Following the pioneering work of Irving Fisher, this article assesses the uncovered interest-parity (UIP) condition by comparing Indian interest and exchange rates during the 1869 to 1906 period. The Indian case provides a good example of the UIP condition, since Indian rupee and sterling bonds were simultaneously traded in the London financial market and subject to negligible default risks. Large deviations from the UIP condition arose when India suffered from pervasive levels of uncertainty about the future of its silver-based currency system. Otherwise, a relatively close correlation arises between sterling-to-rupee interest-rate differences and exchange-rate changes.

The economic determinants of the implied volatility function for currency options

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the pattern of the implied volatility function for currency options traded on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), identify its potential determinants and to investigate any seasonality in the pattern. Design/methodology/approach The paper examines four different specifications for the implied volatility smile of exchange-traded dollar-rupee options. These specifications are tested by running Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions on a daily basis for all options over the entire sample period. Seven potential determinants for the shape of the volatility function are identified. Contemporaneous and lead-lag relationships between these determinants and the shape of the volatility function are examined using OLS and multivariate VAR. Impulse response functions are employed to test the strength and persistence of the lead-lag relations. Seasonality of the smile pattern is tested using OLS. Findings The study shows that the implied volatility function for dollar-rupee options is asymmetric and varies with the time to maturity of the option. Historical volatility, momentum and jumps in the exchange rate, time to maturity, traded volume of options and volatility in the stock market appear to Granger-cause the shape of the volatility smile. Feedback causality is observed from the shape of the smile to the volatility, momentum and jumps in the exchange rate and trading volume of currency options. A weak day-of-the-week effect is observed in the pattern of the volatility smile. Practical implications The study sheds light on the potential determinants of the smile and highlights the predictive power of the smile which findings can be useful to market practitioners for pricing and hedging of dollar-rupee options. The study has strong practical implications during a period of increased volatility in the dollar-rupee pair. Originality/value Most of the existing literature regarding implied volatility smiles has focused either on the volatility smile of US equity index options or that of major liquid currencies. There is a need for such studies in the context of options on emerging market currencies such as the Indian rupee which are characterized by thin trading and frequent central bank intervention and signaling. To the best of the author’s knowledge this study is the first to focus on the volatility smile of exchange-traded options on the US dollar–Indian rupee.