On Tuesday, the rupee fell 27 paise to close at 82.05 (provisional) against the US dollar, weighed down by a strong greenback against major rivals overseas and a flat trend in domestic equities. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed 2.92 points lower at 61,761.33 on the domestic equity market. The NSE Nifty gained 1.55 points to 18,265.95.
The domestic unit opened at 81.84 against the dollar on the interbank foreign exchange and fell below the 82 mark to close at 82.05 (provisional), down 27 paise from its previous close.
The rupee hit a high of 81.83 and a low of 82.15 against the US dollar during the day. The rupee closed at 81.78 against the dollar on Monday.
Due to the positive US Dollar index, the rupee has depreciated and is now at its lowest level in two and a half weeks. Soft crude oil prices, on the other hand, cushioned the downside, according to Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
The dollar index, which measures the strength of the US currency against a basket of six currencies, increased 0.10 percent to 101.47.
“The US dollar rose on risk aversion in global markets, and the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey showed banks continued to tighten credit conditions for businesses and households, but it was better than expected,” Choudhary added.
Brent crude futures fell 0.88 percent to USD 76.33 per barrel, the global oil benchmark.
“We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias against the strong Dollar due to risk aversion in global markets and concerns about a global economic slowdown.”
“However, rising crude oil prices and FII inflows may support the rupee at lower levels.” Investors may remain cautious as India and the United States release inflation data later this week. “In the short term, we expect the USD/INR spot to trade between 81.60 and 82.75,” Choudhary added.
According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Monday, purchasing shares worth Rs 2,123.76 crore.
