Rupee ends flat at 72.96 per dollar

Indian rupee ended flat at 72.96 per dollar, amid buying saw in the domestic equity market on the fourth consecutive session.

It opened flat at 72.94 per dollar against previous close of 72.96 and traded in the range of 72.89-72.96.

At close, the Sensex was up 358.54 points or 0.71% at 50,614.29, and the Nifty was up 105.70 points or 0.71% at 14,895.70.

"USDINR pair continued to hover around USD 73 post Budget as well. A pullback could be possible due to major Put writing in 73 strike and weakness in Euro due to which Dollar index remained elevated, said ICICI direct.

The dollar-rupee February contract on the NSE was at Rs 73.13 in the last session. The open interest fell 4.0% for February series, it added.

The dollar traded near its strongest in more than two months against the euro and the yen on Thursday as pessimism about the U.S. economic outlook recedes before the release of important data on the jobs market.

Oil prices edged higher on Thursday after the OPEC+ alliance of major producers stuck to a reduced output policy at a meeting on Wednesday, and as crude stockpiles in the United States fell to their lowest levels since March last year.

"The USDINR spot is not breaking the narrow range of 72.75-73.20. Right now, the market is very flat and volatility is muted. The bullish sentiments and inflows into local stocks confines the advance in rupee, but for that RBI’s protection around 72.75-73 zone should end," said Rahul Gupta, Head of Research- Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services.

"Traders are waiting for RBI policy outcome for more clarity over the trend. We don’t expect RBI to cut rates but any hint over future rate cut would be positive for rupee. So until the policy outcome we expect USDINR spot to continue being sideways," he added.