Rupee ends marginally lower at 83.26 against the US dollar; escalation of geopolitical tensions weigh
- The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose to 106.5. Asian currencies slipped due to strength in the greenback, led by a flight to safe-haven assets amid the military conflict in the Middle East.
The Indian rupee closed little changed against the US dollar on Monday despite an escalation in geopolitical risks as traders feared dollar-selling intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) if the local unit heads towards lifetime lows. The rupee ended 1 paise lower at 83.26 a dollar against Friday’s close of 83.25.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose to 106.5. Asian currencies slipped due to strength in the greenback, led by a flight to safe-haven assets amid the military conflict in the Middle East.
On Friday, the rupee ended flat at 83.25 against the US dollar. The rupee hit a lifetime low of 83.29 in October 2022.
A sharp surge in crude oil prices and weakness in domestic equities weighed on the local unit.
While the rupee has stayed under pressure due to elevated US Treasury yields over the last few weeks, the RBI's interventions have managed to keep it off its record low level, traders said.
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“For now, the rupee will continue trading in a range-bound manner as the RBI continues to defend the local unit,” said Dilip Parmar, head of foreign exchange research at HDFC Securities.
Investors now await consumer price inflation data from the US and India, due this week.
Crude oil prices rallied as the tensions escalated in the Middle East, home to almost a third of global oil supply.
Brent crude rose 3.62% to $87.64 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rallied 3.67% to $85.90 a barrel.
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On the domestic front, the benchmark equity indices ended with significant losses on Monday, snapping their two-day winning run as the ongoing Israel-Palestine war spooked investors.
The Sensex ended 483.73 points, or 0.73%, lower at 65,512.39, while the Nifty 50 closed at 19,512.35, down 141.15 points, or 0.72%.
On Friday, the Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold Indian shares worth ₹90.29 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) net purchased shares to the tune of ₹783.25 crore, as per provisional data available on the exchanges.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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