Mumbai, Jan 28 (PTI) The Indian rupee on Monday managed to end 7 paise higher at 71.10 against the US dollar on increased selling of the greenback by exporters amid easing crude oil prices and uptrend in other emerging market currencies.
Also, fresh foreign fund inflows propped up the rupee. However, heavy selling in domestic equity market capped the gains of the local unit to some extent.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex), the rupee opened on a firm note at 70.99 following dollar selling by exporters. However, the domestic currency pared the initial gains and finally settled at 71.10, up 7 paise over its last close.
The rupee Friday weakened by 10 paise to close at 71.17 against the US dollar.
“… crude oil prices fell on higher US crude oil production and slower global growth. The strength in Asian currencies against American dollar also bode well for rupee as well,” said V K Sharma, Head PCG and Capital Market Strategy, HDFC Securities.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading at USD 60.66 per barrel, lower by 1.59 per cent.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent down at 95.74 after US President Donald Trump agreed on Friday to temporarily re-open the federal government.
Trump backed a deal to temporarily end the record-breaking government shutdown in America’s history despite getting no funding for his controversial plan to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. The deal resolved the crippling 35-day closure but not the fight over his proposed border wall.
Going ahead, traders said the US and China trade talks, Brexit parliamentary vote, FOMC monetary policy decision and India’s interim budget are the key event to watch out for, which could bring big volatility in the Forex market this week.
Meanwhile, foreign funds purchased shares worth Rs 223.44 crore from the capital markets on a net basis, and domestic institutional investors also bought shares worth Rs 92.32 crore Monday, provisional data showed.
The benchmark BSE Sensex Monday plunged over 368 points to close at 35,656.70 due to across-the-board selling on the bourse. The NSE Nifty tumbled 119 points to end at 10,661.55 amid weak global cues.
The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 71.1340 and for rupee/euro at 81.1482. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 93.8224 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 65.05.
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