Mumbai, Feb 21 (PTI) The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and appreciated 1 paisa to close at 82.96 against the US dollar on Wednesday, as the strength of the American currency in the overseas market was offset by fresh foreign fund inflows.
Forex traders said the rupee traded in a narrow range amid a weak trend in domestic equities.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 82.90 against the greenback. It hit an intra-day high of 82.86 and a low of 82.97.
It finally settled at 82.96 (provisional) against the dollar, higher by 1 paisa from its previous close of 82.97.
“The Indian rupee erased opening gains along with the domestic equities amid global worries,” Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, said.
He said that broadly, the USD-INR pair is expected to trade between 82.80 to 83.20 in the near-term.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.01 per cent lower at 104.06.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose marginally by 0.09 per cent to USD 82.41 per barrel.
The Indian rupee ended flat against the US Dollar on Wednesday as dollar demand from state-run banks, likely on behalf of importers, offset the local unit’s gains supported by dollar inflows into India, said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.
Iyer further noted that most Asian peers were stronger, while bond yields eased ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes and lent support.
“In the overseas markets, the US Dollar Index was trading flat to marginally stronger against the basket of currencies in late Wednesday afternoon session in Asia ahead of FOMC meeting minutes,” Iyer said.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 434.31 points, or 0.59 per cent to 72,623.09 points while Nifty fell 141.90 points or 0.64 per cent to 22,055.05 points.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 284.66 crore, according to exchange data. PTI DRR RAM DRR
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