Rupee pares initial losses, settles 3 paise higher at 82.26 per US dollar

Rupee pared initial losses and settled for the day 3 paise higher at 82.26 (provisional) against US dollar on Tuesday amid a muted trend in domestic equities.

Forex traders said the rupee witnessed range-bound movement on Tuesday as the dollar index moved higher and Asian currencies moved lower against the American currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.32 against the US dollar and settled 3 paise higher at 82.26 (provisional) against the previous close.

During the day, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 82.24 and a low of 82.33.

On Monday, the rupee had closed at 82.29 against the dollar.

Strong American currency and elevated level of crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiments, while positive macroeconomic data supported the local unit at lower levels.

The gross GST collection rose 11 per cent to over ₹1.65-lakh crore in July, crossing the ₹1.6-lakh crore-mark for the fifth time since the roll-out of the indirect tax regime.

Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collected last month was ₹1,65,105 crore of which CGST was ₹29,773 crore, SGST ₹37,623 crore, IGST ₹85,930 crore (including ₹41,239 crore collected on import of goods) and cess was ₹11,779 crore (including ₹840 crore collected on import of goods).

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.28 per cent to 102.14.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.48 per cent to $85.02 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 68.36 points or 0.10 per cent lower at 66,459.31. The broader NSE Nifty fell 20.25 points or 0.10 per cent to 19,733.55.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Monday as they offloaded shares worth ₹701.17 crore, according to exchange data.