Rupee Gains 2 Paise to Close at 82.89 vs US Dollar

Mumbai, Feb 26 (PTI) The rupee gained 2 paise to settle at 82.89 (provisional) against the US dollar in a range-bound trade on Monday, tracking volatility in the equity market.

Forex traders said inflow of foreign funds and softer crude oil prices provided support to the Indian currency.

Also, the dollar retreated from higher levels as investors moved cautiously ahead of inflation and other macroeconomic data to be released in India and elsewhere this week, they said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.88 and finally settled at 82.89 (provisional) against the dollar, registering a gain of 2 paise from its previous close.

During the day, the rupee witnessed a range-bound movement, touching an intra-day high of 82.86 and a low of 82.91 against the American currency.

On Friday, the rupee settled 6 paise lower at 82.91 against the US dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was 0.05 per cent lower at 103.80.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.58 per cent lower at USD 81.15 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 352.67 points, or 0.48 per cent, to settle at 72,790.13 points. The Nifty fell 90.65 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 22,122.05 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.

India's forex reserves declined USD 5.24 billion to USD 617.23 billion for the week ending February 9, according to weekly data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.