Rupee rises 15 paise to 82.16 against US dollar in early trade

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The rupee appreciated by 15 paise to 82.16 against the US dollar in early trade on March 28 due to weakness in the American currency and positive trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.20 against the dollar, then recovered to 82.16, registering a gain of 15 paise from its previous close.

On Monday, the rupee had closed at 82.31 against the American currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.25% to 102.59.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.42% to $77.79 a barrel.

“Indian rupee is likely to trade higher in the last few days of the financial year maintaining a broad range of 81.80-82.50 due to year-end inflows,” said Amit Pabari, managing director, CR Forex Advisors.

He said HDFC is set to raise Rs 57,000 crore through bond issue, which could support the rupee in the near term.

“Furthermore, the Fed’s ongoing liquidity injection program and strong willingness to support and contain any spike in the banking crisis has capped the rupee’s decline, which has hurt US dollar demand. A move towards 81.80 levels may help in the current month,” said Mr. Pabri.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 113.76 points, or 0.20%, to 57,767.62. The broader NSE Nifty rose 24.05 points, or 0.14%, to 17,009.75.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they sold shares worth Rs 890.64 crore, according to exchange data.