Rupee ends 7 paise lower against US dollar

The rupee depreciated 7 paise to close at 73.61 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday even as the domestic equity market was trading with significant gains.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened weak at 73.62 against the US dollar and remained stressed for majority of the session before closing at 73.61, a loss of 7 paise over its previous close.

During the session, the local unit witnessed an intra-day high of 73.46 and a low of 73.67 against the US dollar.

It had settled at 73.54 against the greenback in the previous session on Thursday.

According to forex dealers, positive sentiment in the domestic equity market and weakness in US dollar overseas restricted the rupee’s fall.

Rahul Gupta, Head of Research- Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services said, As we get close to the US election day, uncertainty over the outcome will keep USD-INR spot afloat.

We expect 73.40 to act as an immediate support, only a break will weigh towards 73.20 zone, while, 73.90-74 will act as an immediate resistance.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 151.26 points higher at 40,709.75 and the broader NSE Nifty rose 45.25 points to 11,941.70.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.21 percent lower at 92.75.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,118.46 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.28 percent to $42.34 per barrel.