Rupee ends 55 paise higher at 75.63 per dollar

Indian rupee ended with a gain of 55 paise at 75.63 per dollar on April 7 amid buying seen in the domestic equity market.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut the money market timing from earlier 9 am -5 pm to 10 am - 2 pm from April 7 to April 17.

It opened higher by 32 paise at 75.90 per dollar against Friday's close of 76.22.

The currency market was shut on Monday on account of Mahavir Jayanti.

On Friday the rupee ended 67 paise lower at 76.22 against the US dollar amid a significant rise in coronavirus cases in the country and weak domestic equities.

The Sensex was up 2,227.26 points or 8.07% at 29818.21, and the Nifty was up 635.75 points or 7.86% at 8719.55.

The currency market was shut on Monday on account of Mahavir Jayanti.

“The coronavirus will continue to dominate all the price actions and asset classes. The reduction in OTC timings will disappoint the speculators and also reduce the volumes. Reduction in volumes will impact the market liquidity and likely increase volatility keeping rupee on an edge," said Rahul Gupta, Head of Research- Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services.

"We may see RBI intervening and capping the volatility however, there is not much RBI can do. 76.80-76.85 will act as a crucial resistance with 75.40 in support," he added.

Oil rose on Tuesday amid hopes that the world’s biggest producers of crude will agree to curtail production as the coronavirus pandemic ravages the global economy, even as analysts cautioned the cuts may do little to boost demand.

Gold prices eased from a four-week high on Tuesday, as the US dollar and global equities strengthened on signs of a slowdown in coronavirus-related deaths.

The dollar-rupee contract on the NSE was at 76.70 in the previous session. The open interest has increased by almost 9.5% during the last session. INR has remained weak amid continued selling pressure in both equity and debt markets. Utilise downsides in the pair to initiate long positions, said ICICIdirect.