Re closes flat at 82.03/USD in a lackluster trade

Mumbai Therupee edged up one paisa to settle at 82.03 against the US dollar in a listless trade on Tuesday amid a weak greenback in overseas markets and a rally in domestic equities.

While concerns over interest rate hikes in the US and geopolitical worries capped gains in the local unit, a weak US currency in the global markets and a fall in crude oil prices supported the rupee, analysts said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened higher at 82.02 and later moved in a narrow band of 81.95 to 82.03 during the day. The local currency settled at the day’s low level of 82.03 against the US dollar, reflecting a gain of one paisa over the last close. The rupee had declined by 8 paise to close at 82.04 on Monday. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.10 per cent to 102.58. The greenback showed some weakness ahead of the release of US data that may have some bearing on the timing of further rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Global crude oil benchmark Brent crude retreated 1.5 per cent to $73.07 per barrel ahead of the release of the US oil stocks data later in the day. In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex rebounded 446.03 points to settle at 63,416.03 points, while the broader Nifty climbed 126.20 points to close at 18,817.40 points. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 409.43 crore, according to exchange data.