Rupee ends on flat note at 82.82/USD

Mumbai: The rupee traded in a narrow range and settled for the day on flat note as the local unit rose two paise to 82.82 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, amid a muted trend in domestic equities.

Forex traders said the strength of the American currency capped sharp gains for the local unit. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.82 against the US currency and witnessed a high of 82.76 and a low of 82.84 during intra-day trade. The local unit settled at 82.82 (provisional), registering a gain of 2 paise over its previous close.

On Monday, the rupee closed at 82.84 against the US currency. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.32 per cent to 103.52. Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.03 per cent to $75.97 per barrel. The rupee traded with a slight positive bias on positive domestic equities and FII inflows.

However, positive US dollar capped sharp gains, Anuj Choudhary - Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said. Dollar gained on optimism over debt ceiling talks and hawkish statements from US Federal Reserve officials. "We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on risk-off sentiments in global markets amid uncertainty over the debt ceiling talks and a strong dollar.