Mumbai, Mar 24 (PTI) The rupee appreciated 6 paise to close at 76.33 against the US dollar in a restricted trade on Thursday, as investors assess the global economic impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict amid elevated global crude oil prices to find a decisive direction.
A weak trend in domestic equities and strengthening US dollar in the overseas market capped the gains in the domestic unit, forex traders said.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened slightly up at 76.37 against the greenback. During the session, it moved in a tight range of 76.24 and 76.41.
The rupee finally settled at 76.33, a rise of 6 paise over its previous close.
“The Indian rupee is seen trading sideways as it is reacting to several cues, the major one being the strong rebound in crude oil prices due to declining inventories, supply disruptions due to a storm, and prospects of further sanctions on Russia,” said Sugandha Sachdeva, Vice President – Commodity and Currency Research, Religare Broking Ltd.
Global oil markets are portraying significant tightness and are heavily backward dated. Still, worries about demand destruction due to the rising COVID-19 cases in China are capping gains at higher levels, Sachdeva added.
Besides, the strength in the US dollar amid bets of an aggressive pace of rate hike path during 2022, and lingering uncertainty due to the ongoing geopolitical crisis is also weighing on the domestic currency.
“However, retreat in domestic equities from day’s low lent some support to the rupee-dollar exchange rate. We anticipate the Indian rupee to trade with a sideways bias in the range of 75.50-76.60 in the coming days,” Sachdeva noted.
According to Anindya Banerjee, VP, Currency Derivatives & Interest Rate Derivatives at Kotak Securities Ltd, “Month-end corporate USD sales are not allowing USD/INR to move higher. At the same time, bids from oil marketing companies are keeping USDINR well supported near 76 levels. We could be in for a range between 76 and 77 till March-end”.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.18 per cent to 98.79.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.12 per cent to USD 121.45 per barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 89.14 points or 0.15 per cent lower at 57,595.68, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 22.90 points or 0.13 per cent to 17,222.75.
Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 481.33 crore, according to stock exchange data. PTI DRR DRR BAL BAL
