Rupee ends flat at 72.52 per dollar

Indian rupee ended flat at 72.52 per dollar, amid selling saw in the domestic equity market on spiking US bond yields.

It opened higher at 72.48 per dollar against previous close of 72.54 and traded in the range of 72.42-72.61.

At close, the Sensex was down 585.10 points or 1.17% at 49,216.52, while Nifty was down 163.40 points or 1.11% at 14,557.90.

Fed has kept its benchmark overnight interest rate near zero and expect economic growth to remain above trend for at least two years to come, at 3.3% in 2022 and 2.2% in 2023, compared to estimated long-term potential growth of just 1.8%.

Oil prices dropped for a fifth day on Thursday after official data showed a sustained rise in U.S. crude and fuel inventories, while the ever-present pandemic clouded the demand outlook.

The U.S. dollar was on the defensive on Thursday after the Federal Reserve signalled it was in no hurry to raise interest rates through all of 2023 even as it saw a V-shaped recovery in the world’s largest economy.

"The USDINR pair remained almost flat for the day after initial volatility. As the dollar index is sustaining below 92 levels, we feel the rupee is likely to appreciate towards 72.3 levels in coming days, said ICICI Direct.

The dollar-rupee March contract on the NSE was at Rs 72.67 in the last session. The open interest fell almost 4.3% for the March series, it added.