Rupee rises four paise to 82.85 against U.S. dollar in early trade

The Rupee appreciated four paise to 82.85 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on March 1 on the back of robust GDP data and massive inflow of foreign funds in the domestic capital markets.

“A positive sentiment in the equity markets also supported the local currency, though the higher level of the dollar index came as a negative bias,” forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the local currency opened at 82.86 and gained slightly to 82.85 against the greenback, registering an increase of four paise from its previous close. On Thursday, the Rupee settled two paise higher at 82.89 against the U.S. dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, declined 0.08% to 104.01. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.34% to $82.19 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 414.5 points or 0.57% higher at 72,914.80 points. The broader NSE Nifty soared 135.65 points or 0.62% to 22,118.45 points.

The government data released on Thursday showed India’s economic growth accelerated to 8.4% in the October-December quarter of this fiscal, mainly due to double-digit growth in manufacturing and a good showing by mining & quarrying and construction sectors.

Another data showed the growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed to a 15-month low of 3.6% in January on account of poor performance of sectors such as refinery products, fertiliser, steel and electricity.

The government’s fiscal deficit at ₹11 lakh crore at January end touched 63.6% of the revised annual target. In the corresponding period last year, the fiscal deficit or gap between the expenditure and revenue was 67.8% of the Revised Estimates (RE) of the Union Budget 2022-23.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday as they bought shares worth ₹3,568.11 crore on a net basis, according to exchange data.