The Indian rupee dived 20 paise to end at 73.31 against the US dollar on Thursday as a rebound in the American currency and rising crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment.
At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened flat at 73.10 against the greenback. It swung between a low of 73.31 and a high of 73.08 during the session. It finally settled at 73.31, down 20 paise against its previous close.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.26% to 89.75.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, traded higher by 0.07% to USD 54.22 per barrel.
“The Indian rupee depreciated against the US dollar on Thursday weighed down by rumoured dollar purchases by the Indian central bank to counter the impact of equity and fund flows,” said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.
Iyer further said that risk appetite has improved amid the likelihood of more US fiscal stimulus after a victory for both the Democratic Party candidates in runoff elections in the Georgia state.
“The dollar index was at firm, while Brent crude oil was trading gains this Thursday and also weighed on sentiments,” he noted.
Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities, said, “Rupee traded weak on back of dollar index taking some supports near USD 89.50 zones. With crude prices rising again, from USD 47.50 to USD 51+in last few days rupee may find it difficult to cross beyond 73. USDINR pair can scale higher towards 73.55-73.60 in coming session if Crude keeps with gains and holds the levels.”
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 80.74 points or 0.17% lower at 48,093.32, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 8.90 points or 0.06% to 14,137.35.
Foreign investors bought shares worth Rs 382.30 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.
