Re reeling under pressure

Mumbai: The rupee declined 6paise to settle at 83.44 against the US dollar on Monday, in line with deep losses in equity markets and an elevated dollar against major rivals overseas amid geopolitical tensions. However, weakening crude oil prices in the international markets and positive domestic macroeconomic data restricted the rupee’s fall, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.46 and traded between 83.42 and 83.47 against the greenback. The local unit finally settled at 83.44, registering a loss of 6paise from its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee declined 7 paise to settle at 83.38 against the US dollar. Anuj Choudhary Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said the Indian rupee weakened on a strong US dollar and a decline in domestic markets. However, the sharp downside in the rupee was contained amid upbeat domestic macroeconomic data and possible intervention by the central bank. “We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on heightened global tensions in the Middle East, which could impact global equities and strengthen the dollar further,” Choudhary said, adding that “traders will take cues from India’s trade deficit and US retail sales data. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs83.20 to Rs83.80”. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.15 per cent lower at 105.68.