Rupee falls 29 paise to close at 82.68 against US dollar
The rupee fell 29 pounds to close at 82.68 (temporary) against the US dollar on Monday, affected by the strength of the US currency in foreign markets.
In interbank foreign exchange, and rupee It opened at 82.47 against the dollar, and finally settled at 82.68 (temporary), down 29 pounds from its previous close.
During the day, the rupee touched a high of 82.45 and a low of 82.68 against the dollar.
On Friday, the rupee settled at 82.39 against the dollar.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.24 percent to 104.26.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.62 percent to $77.36 a barrel.
According to Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, the rupee posted the worst day after March 14 amid weakness in regional currencies, after a rally in the US dollar supported by upbeat US jobs data.
Parmar said the temporary halt in interest rates from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is also set to weigh on the currency as the narrow interest rate differential discourages investors.
Dollar demand from oil importers surged after crude oil prices recovered from multi-month lows as Saudi Arabia pledged to cut production at the OPEC+ summit.
Short-term volatility is expected to increase ahead of the RBI meeting this week.
“USD/INR has strong support at 82.22 (100-day simple moving average) and resistance at 82.95, this year’s high,” Parmar said.
In terms of the local stock market, the BSE Sensex index of 30 shares closed 240.36 points, or 0.38 percent, at 62,787.47 points. The broader NSE Nifty index advanced 59.75 points, or 0.32 percent, to 18,593.85 points.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Friday unloading shares worth Rs 658.88 crore, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank said on Friday that foreign exchange reserves fell by $4.339 billion to $589.138 billion for the week ending May 26. In the previous week, reserves decreased by $6.052 billion to $593.477 billion.