Anant Chandak

The Indian rupee will break through 85 per U.S. dollar to hit a new low in the next six months even as the Reserve Bank of India continues to intervene to stem the currency's losses, according to a Reuters poll of FX strategists.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to hold interest rates on Dec. 6 as a sharp rise in consumer inflation has led several economists in a Reuters poll to push back their forecasts for the first cut in the cycle by a couple of months to February.

India's equity markets will take time to recover from their recent sell-off because they remain overvalued, with last week's Adani indictments only adding to the pain, according to equity analysts in a Reuters poll.

India's business activity rose at its fastest pace in three months in November, helped by an improving services industry and record job creation, but output inflation spiked to a near 12-year high, a survey showed.

Growth in India's dominant services industry picked up last month after dipping to a 10-month low rate in September amid a marked expansion in demand, according to a business survey that also showed the sector's workforce increased sharply.

India's central bank will cut its key policy rate in December by a quarter point to 6.25% to bolster slowing economic growth, according to a slim majority of economists in a Reuters poll who also expect inflation to moderate in the near-term.

India's economy will grow at a solid pace this fiscal year and next, according to a Reuters poll of economists, but they cautioned that key drivers such as job creation and household spending will only increase mildly over the next 12 months.

Economic growth in trade-dependent Taiwan was expected to slow in the third quarter with exports still robust on AI demand but moderating, while domestic investment and consumption are losing steam, a Reuters poll showed on Monday.

Growth in India's business activity picked up slightly in October after softening last month, led by stronger demand in the manufacturing sector, according to a survey that also showed job creation rose at the fastest pace since February 2006.

Economic growth in Saudi Arabia will accelerate next year thanks to higher oil output after two years of modest performance, according to a Reuters poll of economists, who also forecast robust growth for other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.