Rupee settles flat at 83.94/$

Mumbai: The rupee stayed in a narrow range and settled flat at 83.94 against the American currency on Friday, as the support from a rally in domestic equities and weak greenback was negated by foreign fund outflows amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.93 and touched the intra-day low of 83.96 against the greenback during the session. The local unit finally settled flat at 83.94 against the dollar.

On Wednesday, the rupee settled 3paise higher at 83.94 against the US dollar. Forex markets were closed on Thursday on account of Independence Day. Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said the positive tone in the domestic markets supported the rupee at lower levels. “We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on...geopolitical tension in the Middle East between Israel and Iran. “Traders may take cues from US consumer confidence and housing data. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 83.75 to Rs 84.25,” he added. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.14 per cent at 102.66.