Rupee gains 4 paise to close at 82.02 against U.S. dollar

The rupee touched a high of 81.99 and a low of 82.14 against the dollar on March 9.
| Photo Credit: V Sudershan

The rupee pared its initial losses to settle 4 paise higher at 82.02 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Friday, tracking the weakness of the American currency in the overseas market.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.12 against the American currency and finally closed at 82.02 (provisional) against the greenback, registering a gain of 4 paise over its previous close of 82.06.

During the session, the rupee touched a high of 81.99 and a low of 82.14 against the dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.08 per cent to 105.22.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 0.59 per cent to $81.11 per barrel.

“The Indian rupee depreciated marginally by 0.04 per cent on Friday amid weak domestic markets. However, the weak Dollar cushioned the downside,” said Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Share Khan by BNP Paribas.

The dollar slipped from the three-month high on weak U.S. markets and disappointing weekly jobless claims data, which rose to 2,11,000 from 1,90,000 in the previous week.

“We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on risk aversion in global markets and selling pressure from FIIs. However, weak greenback, declining US Treasury yields and a fall in crude oil prices may cushion the downside,” Mr. Choudhary said.

Traders may remain cautious ahead of non-farm payroll, average hourly earnings and unemployment rate data from the U.S. Traders may also watch out for India’s industrial production data, which is likely to be better than the previous month, Mr. Choudhary said.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 671.15 points or 1.12 per cent to end at 59,135.13, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 176.70 points or 1 per cent to 17,412.90.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth ₹561.78 crore, according to exchange data.