Rupee gains 5 paise to 88.63 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee pared initial losses and showed a slight recovery of 5 paise trading at 88.63 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday (November 21) on the back of lower crude oil prices overseas and foreign capital infusion in domestic stocks.

The local currency, however, remained under pressure tracking a firm greenback and negative cues from domestic equity markets, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 88.67 and gained some ground to trade at 88.63 against the US dollar in initial deals, up 5 paise from its previous closing level.

On Thursday (November 20), the rupee depreciated 20 paise to close at 88.68 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was 0.01% up at 100.09.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 1.29% lower at $62.56 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex declined 172.32 points to 85,460.36 in early trade, while the Nifty was down 59.35 points to 26,132.80.

Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth ₹283.65 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.

The government data released on Thursday (November 20) showed the pace of growth in the country’s eight key infrastructure sectors stayed flat year-on-year in October as expansion in output of petroleum refinery products, fertiliser and steel was offset by a contraction in coal and electricity production.

The eight core industries of coal, crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, electricity, fertiliser, and steel had expanded by 3.3% in September and by 3.8 per cent in October 2024.