The Indian rupee ended 31 paise higher against the US dollar on Thursday led by likely foreign capital inflows amid strong domestic economic growth and signs that US Federal Reserve may pause on rate hike next week . The local currency closed at 82.41 a dollar, as against its previous close of 82.72.
The US dollar rose after a vote of approval from the US House to suspend the debt ceiling, though the greenback drifted from a two-month high as investors trimmed bets the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this month, Reuters reported.
On the domestic front, India's economic growth accelerated to 6.1% in the January-March quarter, data out on Wednesday showed, boosting sentiment.
Expectations rose that US Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates next week after Fed Governor and vice chair nominee Philip Jefferson said "skipping a rate hike" at a coming meeting would allow the Fed to see more data before making decisions on additional policy firming, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, Crude oil steadied amid reports of rising inventories in the US, the world's biggest oil consumer.
Brent crude futures rose 0.17% to $72.72 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) inched 0.12% higher to $68.17 per barrel.
The Indian equity benchmark indices ended lower dragged by selling in financial stocks. The Sensex fell 193.70 points, or 0.31%, to close at 62,428.54, and the Nifty ended 46.65 points, or 0.25%, lower at 18,487.75.
On Wednesday, the Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) bought Indian shares worth ₹3,405.90 crore, while the Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) sold shares worth ₹2,528.52 crore, as per data available on exchanges.
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