Rupee rises 18 paise to 82.58 against US dollar

The rupee reversed its four-day losing streak and rose 18 pesos to 82.58 (tentative) against the US dollar on Friday, tracking positive sentiment in local equity markets.

Traders said the dollar’s weakness abroad also supported the rupee.

In the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened strongly at 82.50 against the dollar and traded between 82.50 and 82.75. It finally settled at 82.58 (temporary) against the greenback, recording a gain of 18 baisa against its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee settled at 82.76 against the US dollar.

The move in favor of the rupee was triggered as participants dumped dollars after “positive sentiments as eleven US banks, JPMorgan and others will deposit up to $30 billion in the First Republic coming to Rescuing a lender caught in a crisis caused by the collapse of American lenders.

However, he said, “Rupiah can continue with volatile moves as rates should take into account the Fed’s policy and Fed’s view of the financial sector affected by the cycle of rising interest rates.”

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.21 percent at 104.20.

Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, rose 1.26 percent to $75.64 a barrel.

BSE Sensex, which includes 30 shares, closed up 355.06 points, or 0.62 percent, at 57,989.90 points, while the broader NSE Nifty index rose 114.45 points, or 0.67 percent, at 17,100.05 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the domestic capital market on Thursday as they unloaded shares worth Rs 282.06 crore, according to exchange data.