The rupee depreciated 57 paise on a weekly basis on a firmer dollar index, risk-off sentiment and foreign fund outflows.
The rupee depreciated 57 paise on a weekly basis on a firmer dollar index, risk-off sentiment and foreign fund outflows.
The rupee on Friday eased its opening gains against the US dollar and settled just 1 paise higher at 77.49 (provisional) at 77.49 (provisional) on inflation concerns and strength of the US currency on the local unit.
Forex traders said the rupee consolidated in a narrow range as weakness in regional currencies and disappointing economic data weighed on the domestic unit, while Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervention limited the losses.
At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 77.35 against the greenback and moved in a range of 77.26 to 77.49 in the day’s trade.
The rupee finally closed at 77.49, just 1 paise higher than the previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee had closed 25 paise lower against the US currency at its lifetime low of 77.50.
The rupee depreciated 57 paise on a weekly basis on a firmer dollar index, risk-off sentiment and foreign fund outflows.
“Among all the drivers, the liquidity factor is essentially a key driver of the recent market moves and market participants are rushing for safe-haven assets,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
Risk appetite on Friday was disappointing with the benchmark equity index eroding morning gains and the rupee also surrendering to the dollar, Parmar said. “Weakness in regional currencies and disappointing economic data weighed on the local unit while RBI’s intervention limited the damage.” Meanwhile, India’s headline inflation rose for the seventh consecutive month to an 8-year high of 7.79% in April on rising food and fuel prices, prompting the RBI to hike interest rates early next month to contain prices. Chances increased.
Factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), remained at 1.9% in March, with some economists feeling that another interest rate hike on the heels of an increase of 40 basis points last week could slow economic growth. can.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 136.69 points or 0.26% lower at 52,793.62, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 25.85 points or 0.16% to 15,782.15.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.05% to 104.79.