Re slips 1ps, closes at 82.89/$

Mumbai: The rupee closed almost flat at 82.89 against the US dollar in a restricted trade on Tuesday amid withdrawal of foreign funds and increased month-end demand for the American currency. According to forex analysts, the Indian currency resisted a sharp fall due to robust equity market sentiment and a weaker dollar even as investors kept an eye on domestic and global macroeconomic data to be released this week. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened firm at 82.87 against the dollar and touched a low of 82.90 in intra-day trade. The local unit finally settled at 82.89 against the greenback, down by 1 paisa from the previous closing level.

On Monday, the rupee settled 3 paise higher at 82.88 against the US dollar. Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst, LKP Securities, said, the rupee traded slightly weaker with minimal movement, while the dollar index remained flat at around 103.65. “Market participants are awaiting the release of core durable orders and CB consumer confidence data later in the evening, which could potentially impact the dollar index and influence further movement in the rupee,”he added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was 0.12 per cent lower at 103.62. On the domestic equity market front, Sensex rose by 305.09 points, or 0.42 per cent, to settle at 73,095.22 points.