Rupee ends 4 paise lower at 83.27 against US dollar; little changed on week
- The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was lower by 0.22% at 104.12. The dollar index was on course to register a weekly drop of over 1% as investors raised bets that the US Federal Reserve would begin easing policy rates next year.
The Indian rupee ended 4 paise lower against the US dollar on Friday amid buoyant dollar demand from local companies local and a weak trend in domestic equity markets. The local unit ended at 83.27 a dollar as compared to its previous close of 83.23.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was lower by 0.22% at 104.12. The dollar index was on course to register a weekly drop of over 1% as investors raised bets that the US Federal Reserve would begin easing policy rates next year.
The 10-year US Treasury yields last quoted at 4.39%, its lowest level since September.
On Thursday, the rupee closed at 83.23 against the greenback.
For the week, the Indian currency was rangebound between 83.01 and 83.33 and ended largely unchanged from last Friday.
Fresh FII inflows and crude oil prices trading near four-month lows helped the rupee restrict losses, forex dealers said.
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“The rupee should continue consolidating between 83 and 83.30 in the near-term but is likely to head lower eventually,” said Dilip Parmar, a foreign exchange research analyst at HDFC Securities.
Rupee has mostly been unable to take advantage of the fall in US Treasury yields, softer greenback and the drop in oil prices that hit four-month lows on Thursday.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, recovered from overnight losses to trade higher by 0.92% at $78.13 per barrel.
On the domestic front, the equity benchmark indices ended lower on Friday amid weak cues from the Asian markets.
The Sensex ended 187.75 points, or 0.28%, lower at 65,794.73 while the Nifty 50 declined 33.40 points, or 0.17%, to settle at 19,731.80.
According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) emerged as net buyers in the capital market on Thursday as they bought shares worth ₹957.25 crore.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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