The rupee on Monday fell 15 paise to a psychological low of 80 in intraday trade before closing at 79.97 (provisional) against the US currency on Monday due to buoyant crude oil prices and foreign fund outflow.
In the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 79.76 against the greenback but later lost ground to touch a psychological low of 80.00 against the US currency.
The local unit recovered some of the lost ground and closed at 79.97 (Provisional), registering a decline of 15 paise from its previous close.
The rupee on Friday rebounded from nearly 80 levels to close 17 paise higher at 79.82 against the US currency.
“The Indian rupee opened in the green with strength in domestic equity markets and a weaker US dollar. However, the rupee weakened in the latter part of the day on buoyant crude oil prices and selling pressure by FIIs. FII outflows increased to 1,649. crores on Friday,” said Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
Mr Choudhary further said that the rupee is likely to trade with a positive bias towards increased risk appetite in global markets and weakness in the US dollar. Improved global risk sentiment may also support the rupee.
“However, my cap sharp gains in rupee on account of fall in crude oil prices and continued selling pressure by FIIs. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in the range of ₹79.20 to ₹80.80 in the next few sessions,” said Mr. Chowdhury.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.50% down at 107.52.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures jumped 2.06% to $103.24 a barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex closed 760.37 points or 1.41% higher at 54,521.15, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 229.30 points or 1.43% to end at 16,278.50.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital markets on Friday, selling shares worth 1,649.36 crore, according to exchange data.