Re continues upward trend for 3rd session

Mumbai The rupee appreciated by 14 paise to settle at 82.58 against the US dollar on Thursday, marking its third straight day of gains on the back of softening crude oil prices and foreign funds inflows.

The upward trend in the past three sessions led to a gain of 55 paise in the Indian currency, rebounding from its all-time low level of 83.11 against the greenback witnessed on Monday. According to reports, the rupee’s sharp gain was attributed to the Reserve Bank of India’s move to prevent banks from short-term trading in offshore currency markets. The cautious move by investors ahead of the BRICS summit and US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium restricted the upward movement of the dollar even as negative sentiment in the domestic equity markets weighed on the Indian currency, forex analysts said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened strong at 82.55 and moved in the range of 82.36 and 82.61 against the American currency. It finally settled at 82.58 against the greenback, registering a gain of 14 paise over its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee registered the highest single-day gain in more than two months and appreciated by 27 paise to close at 82.72 against the dollar. Earlier, the domestic unit witnessed the maximum intra-day gain of 35 paise on June 16 this year.