| | MARCH 20258Sales of dollars by exporters and foreign banks, along with a generally weaker dollar that was trading close to a five-month low against its main peers, helped the Indian rupee gain momentum for the third straight day today.Early trade saw the rupee reach its highest level since February 24 at 86.8075, with dealers last quoting at 86.8450 as of 10:55 a.m. IST, up over 0.2 percent on the day, it pared some of its gains.The dollar index was down 0.2 percent at 103.5, hovering near a five-month low that was reached last week, while other Asian currencies were largely rangebound.As the dollar index barely moved at 103.7, Asian currencies remained primarily range-bound.Early trading saw foreign banks giving dollars, which bolstered the rupee, according to a trader at a state-run bank.The rupee is one of the high-yielding currencies that Bank of America now advises long bets on, the bank stated in a note.On the other hand, figures released indicated that India's merchandise trade deficit decreased to $14.05 billion in February.Although the local currency has underperformed most of its regional counterparts this month, a generally weaker dollar has also contributed to the rupee's 0.8 percent gain so far in March.The dollar, US bond yields, and stocks have all been affected by worries about a weakening US economy in the face of escalating trade policy. Intel's new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan plans to make significant changes to its chip manufacturing methods and artificial intelligence strategies. According to reports, Tan aims to address an inefficient middle management layer and reorganize the company's AI approach, in response to the need for revitalization amid Intel's struggles. Following his appointment as CEO at a town hall meeting last week, he informed his employees that the company will need to make tough decisions.Tan's core priority is said to be in revamping the company's manufacturing operations, which will be making semiconductors for outside clients along with the chips for Intel. Following Tan's appointment, Intel's shares rose over seven percent on Nasdaq.Tan, 65, a tech investor and a former CEO of chip design software firm Cadence, was a member of Intel's board until last August. Tan is set to take over the American icon as CEO and dominate those markets by building chips for smartphones and address surging demand for AI processor, which failed due to decade of poorly considered decisions by three former CEOs. For the first time since 1986, Intel reported an annual loss of $19 billion. IN FOCUSINDIAN RUPEE GAINS MOMENTUM FOR THE THIRD STRAIGHT DAYLIP-BU TAN TO REVITALIZE CHIP MANUFACTURING AND AIIN FOCUS
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