The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and appreciated 1 paisa to close at 82.96 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on February 21, as the support from easing crude oil prices was negated by a weak trend in domestic equities.
Forex traders said the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and sustained foreign fund outflows weighed on the local unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 82.90 against the greenback. It hit an intra-day high of 82.86 and a low of 82.97.
It finally settled at 82.96 (provisional) against the dollar, higher by 1 paisa from its previous close of 82.97.
“The Indian rupee erased opening gains along with the domestic equities amid global worries,” Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, said.
He said that broadly, the USD-INR pair is expected to trade between 82.80 to 83.20 in the near-term.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.06% higher at 104.14.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.27% to $82.12 per barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 434.31 points, or 0.59% to 72,623.09 points while Nifty fell 141.90 points or 0.64% to 22,055.05 points.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth ₹1,335.51 crore, according to exchange data.
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