Home currency trading flat

Mumbai: The rupee settled 1paisa lower at 82.90 against the US dollar on Friday amid rising crude oil prices in the overseas market and increased demand for the American currency from importers. However, a rally in equity markets and robust domestic macroeconomic data supported the local currency and restricted the fall, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.86 and traded in a narrow range of 82.84 and 82.91 against the greenback.

The local unit finally settled at 82.90 against the dollar, down 1 paisa from its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee settled 2paise higher at 82.89 against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, dipped marginally by 0.02 per cent to 104.07.

Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said the US dollar rose on month-end rebalancing by importers and oil marketing companies.

“We expect the rupee to trade with a slight positive bias on improved risk sentiments in the domestic markets following stellar GDP data and positive domestic equities.

However, strong US dollar and elevated crude oil prices may cap the sharp upside,” Choudhary said.