The rupee on Wednesday further weakened by 13 paise against the US dollar amid strong dollar demand from importers
The rupee on Wednesday further weakened by 13 paise against the US dollar amid strong dollar demand from importers
The rupee on Wednesday closed below the 80 mark for the first time by falling 13 paise against the US currency on strong demand for the dollar from importers amid higher crude oil prices.
In the interbank forex market, the local currency opened at ₹79.91 and later settled as low as ₹80.05 against a dollar.
The rupee was trading in the range of ₹ 79.89 to ₹ 80.05 in the day’s trade. It finally closed at the day’s low of ₹80.05, a decline of 13 paise over the previous close.
On Tuesday, the rupee closed 6 paise higher at ₹79.92 from its all-time low of ₹80.05 against the US dollar following foreign exchange inflows and questionable RBI intervention.
Forex traders said significant dollar demand from oil importers, firming crude oil prices as well as concerns of widening trade deficit weighed on investor sentiments.
Jatin Trivedi said, “In the last few days, the overall gain in crude oil where Brent has again climbed above $105 and lack of RBI intervention has kept the rupee hovering around 80.00. Going forward, the rupee is in the range of 79.75-80.25. I will be seen.” VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities.
The rupee remains broadly on the downside even after RBI measures on international payment gateways or import duty hike on commodity products, Mr Trivedi said.
India’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $580.252 billion, down by $27.05 billion from March-end 2022.
“The dollar index has shown a correction from 109 to 106.50 during the week, which will prevent the rupee’s depreciation in majority,” he said.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.11% to 106.56.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 1.73% to $105.49 a barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex closed 629.91 points or 1.15% higher at 55,397.53, while the broader NSE Nifty jumped 180.30 points or 1.1% to end at 16,520.85.
Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they bought shares worth Rs 976.40 crore, according to exchange data.