Rupee ends lower at 73.60 per dollar

Indian rupee ended 26 paise lower at 73.60, amid buying seen in the domestic equity market.

It opened 30 paise lower at 73.64 per dollar against previous close of 73.34 and traded in the range of 73.38-73.64.

At 14:10 IST, the Sensex was up 204.96 points or 0.53% at 38622.19, and the Nifty was up 46.90 points or 0.41% at 11401.90.

Gold prices eased on Tuesday as the dollar strengthened, although rising doubts over the economic recovery from the Covid-19 slump limited losses, with the investors awaiting the outcome of the European Central Bank meeting this week.

The dollar held on to the small overnight gains on Tuesday as investors weighed whether an accommodative turn from the European Central Bank later this week could hit the euro, while the pound nursed losses due to Brexit uncertainty.

Oil prices were mixed in the early trade on Tuesday on looming demand worries about the possible rise in the Covid-19 cases following the US Labor day long weekend, which also marks the end of the peak US driving season.

"In the week gone by Indian rupee depreciated by 0.22 percent and currently stands at 73.19 against the US dollar. In the previous week, India posted its Q1FY21 GDP which contracted by 23.9 percent which was the lowest in 24 years. However, the GDP announced was in line with market expectations considering the economic disruption caused by the virus and its subsequent lockdowns," said Vaqarjaved Khan- Research Analyst, Angel Broking.

"On the other hand, US FED published its “Beige Book” report which highlighted that the economic recovery trajectory has been uneven in US. Residential sector has surged on account of low interest rates but other sectors such as commercial construction and agriculture have underperformed. US also published the lowest jobless claims since the start of the pandemic."

"With risk sentiment improving and global economies recovering from this unprecedented pandemic, USDINR (CMP: 73.19) is likely to move lower towards 72.5 in the coming week. (7th Sep – 11th Sep 2020)," he added.