Highlight
- The rupee rose 20 paise to 79.85 from its all-time low of 80.06. closed on
- On Wednesday, the rupee closed below the 80 level against the US currency for the first time.
- Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 4.46 per cent to $102.15 per barrel
The rupee on Thursday closed 20 paise higher at 79.85 (provisional) from its all-time low of 80.06 against the US dollar, following an overall weakness in crude oil prices and fresh foreign fund inflows.
In the interbank forex market, the local unit opened against the greenback at 80.03 and intra-day lows fell further at 80.06. The local unit later made losses and closed at 79.85 (provisional), registering an increase of 20 paise from its previous close.
The rupee on Wednesday closed below the 80 level against the US currency for the first time on firm dollar demand from importers and concerns of fiscal fall.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.04 per cent at 107.03.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 4.46 per cent to $102.15 per barrel.
“After the poor performance of the past four days, the Indian rupee has become the second best performing currency among Asian currencies on potential dollar selling by state banks and mild foreign fund inflows from central banks.
“All eyes will be on the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting, which will affect the dollar index. With the euro being the dominant weighting in the dollar index, any unforeseen outcome from the meeting will be dollar positive and, in turn, weigh on others. Currencies,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex closed 284.42 points or 0.51 per cent higher at 55,681.95, while the broader NSE Nifty ended 84.40 points or 0.51 per cent higher at 16,605.25.
Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they bought shares worth Rs 1,780.94 crore, according to exchange data.