Rupee rises 5 paise to 82.67 against US dollar

The rupee gained 5 pounds to reach 82.67 against the US dollar in early trading on Friday, supported by foreign money inflows and a positive trend in local stocks.

Forex traders said the rupee was trading in a narrow range amid a rally in the US dollar.

The dollar index is trading above the 104 level with safe-haven appeal as US President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are reported to be close to reaching an agreement on the US debt ceiling.

In the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.73 against the dollar, then rose to 82.67, recording gains of 5 pounds from its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee closed at 82.72 against the American currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.16 percent to 104.08.

“Currently, DXY is hovering near the 104 mark and is likely to move upwards towards 105-105.50 levels in the coming days, thus making emerging and developed market currencies weak,” said CR Forex Advisors MD-Amit Babari.

“Overall, we expect volatility to remain high ahead of debt ceiling renewal fears, hence the pair is expected to trade in a range of 82.20 to 83.20,” Babari added. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.29 percent to $76.04 a barrel.

In the local stock market, the 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 203.13 points, or 0.33 percent, to 62,075.75. The broader NSE Nifty index rose 49.55 points, or 0.27 percent, to 18,370.70 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market on Thursday buying shares worth Rs 589.10 crore, according to exchange data.