Rupee falls: The rupee depreciated by 6 paise to settle at 83.50 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, pressured by a strong dollar in the overseas market and elevated global crude oil prices.
Additionally, a muted trend in domestic equities and foreign fund outflows negatively impacted investor sentiment, according to forex traders.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 83.51, hitting an intraday high of 83.47 and a low of 83.56 against the US dollar during the session. It finally settled at 83.50 (provisional), 6 paise lower than its previous close.
On Monday, the rupee had depreciated by 10 paise to settle at 83.44 against the US dollar.
“We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias due to the strength of the US dollar and a surge in crude oil prices, which may keep the rupee under downside pressure,” said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
Choudhary added that the overall positive trend in the domestic markets and expectations of fresh foreign inflows may support the rupee at lower levels. Traders are likely to take cues from Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech and JOLTS job openings data from the US.
“USD/INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 83.20 to Rs 83.75,” Choudhary noted.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.09 per cent higher at 105.99.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading 0.76 per cent higher at $87.26 per barrel.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 34.74 points, or 0.04 per cent, to close at 79,441.45 points. The broader NSE Nifty settled 18.10 points, or 0.07 per cent, lower at 24,123.85 points.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Monday, offloading shares worth Rs 426.03 crore, according to exchange data.
(With PTI inputs)
