Snapping its two-day losing streak, the rupee on Wednesday regained 15 paise to close at 65.03 per dollar on fresh selling of the American currency by banks and exporters on the back of weakness in greenback overseas.
The rupee resumed higher at 65.11 per dollar as against Tuesday’s level of 65.18 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and firmed up further to 65.00 before concluding at 65.03, showing a gain of 15 paise 0.23 per cent
The domestic currency had lost 44 paise or 0.67 per cent in the previous two days. It moved in a range of 65.00 and 65.18 per dollar during the day. The dollar on Wednesday moderately weakened against the yen and euro in Asian trade, as the Japanese and euro zone currencies were bought amid volatility in riskier assets.
Currency trade pairs such as the dollar-yen continue to lack clear direction, as disappointing US jobs data earlier this month increased expectations that the Federal Reserve will likely keep its monetary policy in place over the coming months in the face of a cloudy global growth outlook. Oil prices were subdued in volatile Asian trade on Wednesday as the market digested a report from the the International Energy Agency (IEA) showing that global crude oversupply will persist until next year.
Meanwhile, the Indian benchmark Sensex ended lower by 66.87 points or 0.25 per cent. The dollar index traded down by 0.28 per cent against a basket of six currencies in the late afternoon trade.
Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO, said, “The Indian rupee traded strong and gained almost 0.25 per cent for the day.” Exporters were seen selling the dollars at higher levels which supported the rupee. Dollar index is also trading weak against the other major currencies which aided rupee to trade positively for the day and close at 65.03.
The trading range for the Spot Dollar/INR pair is expected to be within 64.80 and 65.60. In forward market on Wednesday, premium for dollar ended mixed due to uneven demand and supply transa
ions. The benchmark six-month premium payable in March eased to 193-195 paise from 194-196 paise on Tuesday while forward September 2016 inched up to 407-409 paise from 405-407 paise.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 65.11 and for the euro at 74.24. The rupee fell against the pound sterling to finish at 99.89 from the last close from 99.28 previously while recovered marginally against the against the euro to 74.15 form 74.17. However, it ruled steady against the Japanese currency at 54.40 per 100 yen
[“source-businesstoday”].
