Rupee vs Dollar: Narrow Range Trading | August 14

Mumbai, Aug 14 (PTI) The rupee traded in a narrow range and edged higher by 8 paise to 87.39 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, amid a positive trend in domestic equities.

Forex traders said the rupee is trading in a tight range and the overall bias is expected to be negative amid uncertainty over the trade tariffs issue between India and the US.

Moreover, investors are in a wait-and-watch mode ahead of the US-Russia talks on August 15. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 87.48 against the US dollar, then touched 87.39, registering a gain of 8 paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 87.47 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, Brent crude prices rose 0.38 per cent to USD 65.98 per barrel in futures trade.

"The Brent oil was still below USD 66 per barrel as it regained ground after falling much more in the previous session, with the upcoming US-Russia talks raising risk premiums in the market," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.08 per cent to 97.76.

“The US FED rate cut bets are taking the dollar index downwards,” Bhansali said, adding that "Rupee has a chance of gaining slowly towards 87.00 levels depending on the outcome of the summit of US-Russia on August 15."

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex climbed 154.07 points to 80,693.98 in early trade, while the Nifty was up 45 points to 24,664.35.

Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,644.43 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.