Rupee falls 25 paise to 82.46 against U.S. dollar

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The rupee depreciated 25 paise to 82.46 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by firm crude oil prices and a negative trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.44 against the dollar, then fell to 82.46, registering a decline of 25 paise over its last close.

On Friday, the rupee settled at 82.21 against the dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.48% to 102.99.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 5.50% to $84.28 per barrel.

“… Appreciation in rupee shall remain limited to 81.50-81.80 zone where importer can target buying and upside shall for now remain protected towards 82.70-82.90 region for this week,” CR Forex Advisors MD-Amit Pabari said.

“With a holiday shortened week, highlights would be the RBI policy due on April 6 and U.S. payrolls due on April 7,” Mr. Pabari added.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank will be meeting for three days on April 3, 5, and 6 to take into account various domestic and global factors before coming out with the first bi-monthly monetary policy for fiscal 2023-24.

The RBI has already increased the repo rate by a total of 250 basis points since May in a bid to contain inflation though it has continued to remain above the central bank’s comfort zone of 6% for most of the time.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 64.56 points or 0.11% lower at 58,926.96. The broader NSE Nifty declined 9.60 points or 0.06% to 17,350.15.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Friday as they purchased shares worth ₹357.86 crore, according to exchange data.