Finance
The rupee gave up all of its early gains, falling 2 paise to 83.05 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, mirroring a lackluster trend in domestic equity markets.
However, forex traders claimed that the US dollar’s weakness versus major currencies overseas, as well as continuous buying by foreign investors, boosted the local currency.
The local currency opened strong at 82.97 versus the US dollar on the interbank foreign exchange market and traded in a range of 82.90-83.06. It eventually finished at 83.05 (provisional), down 2 paise from its previous close.
On Friday, the domestic currency settled at 83.03 against the dollar.
“The minor weakness observed in capital markets and profit booking after a rapid rally from 83.30 to 82.90 contributed to this downward movement.
“Despite this, the short-term trend for the rupee looks positive, with the dollar index showing broad weakness and a positive money flow into Indian capital markets. The anticipated rupee range is between 82.75 and 83.25,” Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities, said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.10 per cent lower at 102.07.
The global oil benchmark, Brent crude futures, declined 0.57 percent to USD 76.121 per barrel.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 168.66 points, or 0.24 percent, to 71,315.09 in the domestic equity market. The NSE Nifty dropped 38 points, or 0.18 percent, to 21,418.65.
According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net purchasers in the capital markets on Friday, purchasing shares worth Rs 9,239.42 crore.
Source:FE
