Rupee gains 22 paise to end at 74.91 against U.S. dollar

The rupee gained 22 paise to close at 74.91 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday as positive domestic equities and a weak American currency in the overseas markets boosted investor sentiment.

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 74.96 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.79 and a low of 75.02 during the day’s trade. It finally ended at 74.91 a dollar.

On Tuesday, the rupee dropped by 6 paise to 75.13 against the U.S. dollar amid concerns over the fresh impact of the new COVID variant on the economy.

The rupee has been under pressure over the last few trading sessions, as the detection of a new coronavirus variant re-ignited growth concerns and hurt risk appetite.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, declined 0.03% to 95.96.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, jumped 4.75% to $72.52 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex surged 619.92 points or 1.09% to end at 57,684.79, while the broader NSE Nifty jumped 183.70 points or 1.08% to 17,166.90.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday, as they offloaded shares worth ₹5,445.25 crore, according to exchange data.

On the macro-economic front, India’s GDP expanded by a better-than-expected 8.4% in the July-September quarter to cross pre-pandemic levels.

The Union government’s fiscal deficit was 36.3% of the budget estimates at the end of October 2021, on the back of improvement in revenue collection.