Rupee Falls 6 Paise to Close at 82.91 vs US Dollar

Mumbai, Feb 23 (PTI) The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and depreciated by 6 paise to close at 82.91 against the US dollar on Friday, tracking a muted trend in domestic equities.

Forex traders said foreign fund inflows supported the rupee at lower levels and contained the downslide.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.87 and finally settled at 82.91 (provisional) against the dollar, down by 6 paise from its previous close.

During the day, the rupee witnessed a range-bound movement. It saw an intra-day high of 82.84 and a low of 82.96 against the American currency.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 82.85 against the US dollar.

According to Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities the Indian Rupee weakened against the Dollar on Friday on Dollar demand from importers. However, foreign fund inflows into the share and bond markets capped further losses.

For the week, the rupee gained by 0.10 per cent and briefly tested 82.80 levels but was unable to breach the level amid likely intervention from the RBI.

Most Asian peers were weaker, while US bond yields rose this Friday afternoon trade and weighed on the local unit.

Amongst other spot pairs, the EURINR and the GBPINR rose, while the JPYINR eased on Friday's session.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was 0.09 per cent lower at 103.86.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 1.76 per cent lower to USD 82.20 per barrel.

The Indian rupee depreciated on Friday on dollar demand from importers, said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

"We expect the rupee to trade with a slight positive bias on positive global equities and soft US dollar. However, any bounce back in crude oil prices may cap sharp upside. Geopolitical tension in the Middle East may put pressure on rupee at higher levels," Choudhary said, adding that USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 82.60 to Rs 83.10.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 15.44 points, or 0.02 per cent, to settle at 73,142.80 points. The Nifty fell 4.75 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 22,212.70 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Friday as they purchased worth Rs 1,276.09 crore, according to exchange data.