Rupee drops by 7 closes unchanged at 95.96 against US dollar

Mumbai, Sep 18 (PTI) Reversing its early gains, the rupee closed lower by 7 paise at 95.96 against the US dollar on Friday amid a strong American currency and high crude oil prices.

Positive momentum in domestic equity markets and forex inflows, however, capped losses in the Indian currency, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.75 and touched the intraday high of 95.71 in the first half. Later, the rupee came under pressure, closing at the day’s low of 95.96 against the greenback, down by 7 paise from the previous closing level.

The local unit had ended 2 paise higher at 95.89 against the American currency on Thursday, after declining 150 paise, or nearly 1.5 per cent, in the preceding seven sessions.

Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said the rupee traded in a range after opening higher on firm domestic markets and a correction in crude oil prices. However, it gave up initial gains on a positive dollar.

“Traders may take cues from industrial production data from the US. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 95.65 to Rs 96.15,” Choudhary said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.24 per cent higher at 100.39.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, cut losses in the second half and was trading 0.19 per cent lower at USD 104.60 per barrel.

In domestic equities, Sensex fell 19.63 points, or 0.03 per cent, to settle at 74,294.96, while the Nifty gained 75.80 points, or 0.33 per cent, to close at 23,346.40.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 599.54 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data. FIIs bought shares worth Rs 38,461.63 crore and sold equities worth Rs 37,862.09 crore, resulting in net inflow of Rs 599.54 crore. PTI HVA MR