Finance
In a limited session on Friday, the rupee closed steady at 82.03 (provisional) against the US dollar, despite a rebound in domestic equities and robust crude oil prices.
While FII inflows into equities helped the rupee, economists said that a firm US dollar in global markets and advances in crude oil prices limited its gains.
Due to robust crude oil prices in Asian trading, the rupee opened weak at 82.05 on the interbank foreign exchange market. During the day, it traded in a narrow range of 82.00 to 82.07.
The local currency was unchanged at 82.03 (provisional) against the US dollar. On Wednesday, the rupee closed at the same level.
The forex markets were closed on Thursday due to the Bakrid holiday.
The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.9% to 103.43 on rising expectations of future interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve.
Traders anticipate that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again after a brief break in June in response to a solid batch of US economic statistics.
According to figures released on Thursday, the US economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter of this year, by 2%, with fewer unemployment claims indicating that the labor market remained solid despite considerably higher interest rates intended to slow the overall economy.
Brent Crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.61 percent higher at USD 74.79 per barrel.
On Friday, the major indexes Sensex and Nifty reached all-time highs in the domestic equity market. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at a record high of 64,718.56, while the Nifty reached a high of 19,189.05 points due to new foreign money inflows.
According to exchange data, Foreign Portfolio Investors were net purchasers in the capital market on Wednesday, purchasing shares worth Rs 12,350 crore.
Source:FE
