Rupee Rises 2 Paise to 83.20 Against US Dollar

Mumbai, Nov 3 (PTI) The rupee settled 2 paise higher at 83.20 against the US dollar on Friday, tracking major Asian currencies amid a weak greenback and softening crude oil prices.

A positive trend in domestic equities also supported the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.22 and touched the lowest level of 83.30 against the greenback during the day.

It finally settled at 83.20 against the dollar, registering a gain of 2 paise from its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 83.22 against the US dollar.

Analysts said the dollar declined after US data showed lower-than-expected job growth in October, raising expectations of a prolonged interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, said Asian currencies ended stronger on the back of a fall in US Treasury yields and the dollar index.

"In the overseas markets, the US dollar Index was trading flat to marginally weaker this Friday afternoon in Asian trading as traders awaited jobs data later this evening," Iyer said.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.84 per cent lower at 105.23.

Global oil price benchmark Brent crude declined 1.45 per cent to USD 85.49 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex climbed 282.88 points or 0.44 per cent to settle at 64,363.78. The Nifty rose 97.35 points or 0.51 per cent to 19,230.60.

Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 12.43 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

On the domestic macroeconomic front, the services sector growth in India fell to a seven-month low in October on softer increase in output and new business, amid competitive conditions and price pressures.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell to 58.4 in October, from a 13-year high of 61 in September, signalling the slowest rate of expansion since March.

The country's foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 2.579 billion to USD 586.111 billion in the week ended on October 27, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday.