Rupee Closes at 82.91 Against US Dollar

Mumbai, Mar 1 (PTI) The rupee declined 2 paise to close at 82.91 against the US dollar on Friday amid rising crude oil prices in the overseas market and increased demand for the American currency from importers.

However, a rally in equity markets and robust domestic macroeconomic data supported the local currency and restricted the fall, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened strong at 82.86 and traded in a narrow range of 82.84 and 82.91 against the greenback.

The local unit finally settled at 82.91 against the dollar, down 2 paise from its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee settled 2 paise higher at 82.89 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, dipped marginally by 0.02 per cent to 104.07.

Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said the US dollar rose on month-end rebalancing by importers and oil marketing companies.

"We expect the rupee to trade with a slight positive bias on improved risk sentiments in the domestic markets following stellar GDP data and positive domestic equities. However, strong US dollar and elevated crude oil prices may cap the sharp upside," Choudhary said.

He said the traders may remain cautious ahead of ISM manufacturing PMI and construction spending data from the US. "USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 82.60 to Rs 83.10."

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, surged 1.26 per cent to USD 82.94 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex climbed 1,245.05 points, or 1.72 per cent, to settle at a new peak of 73,745.35. The Nifty rose 355.95 points, or 1.62 per cent, to close at a record 22,338.75.

A monthly survey released on Friday showed India's manufacturing sector growth climbed to a five-month high in February amid a sharper uptick in factory production and sales, supported by domestic and external demand.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from 56.5 in January to 56.9 in February, pointing to the strongest improvement in the health of the sector since September 2023.

According to the government data released on Thursday, India's economic growth accelerated to 8.4 per cent in the October-December quarter of this fiscal, mainly due to double-digit growth in manufacturing and a good showing by mining & quarrying and construction sectors.

The government's fiscal deficit at Rs 11 lakh crore at January end touched 63.6 per cent of the revised annual target. In the corresponding period last year, the fiscal deficit or gap between the expenditure and revenue was 67.8 per cent of the Revised Estimates (RE) of the Union Budget 2022-23.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Friday as they bought shares worth Rs 128.94 crore on a net basis, according to exchange data.

Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst, LKP Securities, said: "While dollar volatility persisted, the strength in Indian markets supported the rupee to remain above 82.90. Looking ahead, the range for the rupee is shifting higher between 83.20 and 82.60, with gains expected but likely to be limited".