Rupee rises 14 paise against US dollar on stocks rally

Besides, steady foreign fund inflows into domestic capital markets also supported the local unit, forex traders said

New Delhi: The rupee gained 14 paise to close at 82.03 against the US dollar on Monday, as domestic equity benchmarks scaling all-time high levels and weakness in the American currency overseas boosted investor sentiments.

Besides, steady foreign fund inflows into domestic capital markets also supported the local unit, forex traders said.

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“The positive performance of the secondary capital markets, particularly in the financial sector with a gain of 1.40 per cent in the banking space, supported the rupee’s rise.

“The weakness in crude oil prices, which declined by 1.65 per cent, also benefited rupee buyers. However, the stability of the dollar index limited the extent of the rupee’s appreciation,” said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.14 against the US dollar and settled 14 paise higher at 82.03 against the previous close.

During the day, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 82.03 and a low of 82.20.

On Friday, the rupee had closed at 82.17 against the dollar.

The rupee outperformed the Asian currencies following risk-on sentiments and the dollar inflows. The fall in global commodities and the weak dollar index also supported the rupee, Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities said.

Most Asian currencies weakened versus the dollar after weak Chinese economic data, Parmar added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.12 per cent to 99.79.

The rupee traded with a slight positive bias on positive domestic markets and a soft dollar.

The US dollar is trading near its lowest levels in 15 months on rising odds of just one more rate hike by the US Federal Reserve due to faster-than-expected cooling in inflation, said Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

“We expect the rupee to trade with a slight positive bias on account of the rise in risk appetite in global markets and the weakness in the US Dollar.

“A decline in crude oil prices and foreign inflows may also support the rupee. However, concerns over global economic slowdown may cap a sharp upside. Market participants may remain cautious ahead of retail sales data from US and UK’s inflation data this week. We expect the USD/INR spot to trade between 81.60 to 82.50 in the near term,” Choudhary said.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 1.94 per cent to USD 78.32 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 529.03 points or 0.80 per cent higher at 66,589.93. The broader NSE Nifty rose 146.95 points or 0.75 per cent to 19,711.45.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Monday as they purchased shares worth Rs 73 crore, according to exchange data.

FPIs’ flow into the Indian equity market remained unabated as they invested over Rs 30,600 crore in the first fortnight of this month, driven by the country’s robust economic growth and strong corporate earnings.

Meanwhile, India’s foreign exchange reserves jumped USD 1.229 billion to USD 596.28 billion in the week ended July 7, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday.

In the previous week, the overall forex reserves increased by USD 1.85 billion to USD 595.05 billion.