Rupee falls 8 paise to settle at 82.75 against US dollar

Forex analysts said weakness in the US dollar and a decline in crude oil prices cushioned the downside.

The rupee declined by 8 paise to settle at 82.75 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, tracking bearish equity markets. Forex analysts said weakness in the US dollar and a decline in crude oil prices cushioned the downside.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.74 and touched the intra-day low of 82.76 against the greenback. The local unit finally settled at 82.75 (provisional) against the dollar, registering a loss of 8 paise from its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee climbed 16 paise to settle at 82.67 against the US dollar.

The forex market was closed on Friday for Mahashivratri. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was at 104.21, unchanged from its previous close.

"We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on risk aversion in global markets and concerns that FIIs may sell leading to outflows. Any recovery in the US dollar and any pullback in crude oil prices may also weigh on the rupee," said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas. Choudhary further noted that any FDI-related inflows may support the rupee at lower levels. Any recovery in domestic equities may also support the rupee.

"Traders may remain cautious ahead of inflation data from India and the US. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 82.50 to Rs 83," he said. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.23 per cent to USD 82.27 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex plunged 616.75 points, or 0.83 per cent, to settle at 73,502.64 points. The Nifty tumbled 160.90 points, or 0.72 per cent, to close at 22,332.65 points. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday as they bought shares worth Rs 7,304.11 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India's forex reserves jumped USD 6.55 billion to USD 625.626 billion for the week ended March 1, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had risen by USD 2.975 billion to USD 619.072 billion.