Rupee Rises 14 Paise to 86.59 vs US Dollar

Mumbai, Jun 20 (PTI) The rupee appreciated by 14 paise to close at 86.59 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday aided by a fall in global crude oil prices and a weakening greenback.

A strong show in the domestic equity markets, and FII inflows further supported the local unit, according to forex traders.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 86.65 against the US dollar and traded in a narrow range of 86.55-86.67 before settling at 86.59 (provisional), up 14 paise.

The rupee had lost 30 paise to close at an over two-month low of 86.73 against the dollar on Thursday, logging a combined loss of 69 paise during the past three sessions.

"The rupee eased today (Friday) but declined a little over 1 per cent this month so far, with a large portion of its decline occurring after Israel attacked targets in Iran last Friday. The attacks also raised concerns about disruption of global oil prices, sending Brent crude oil futures to a five-month peak around USD 79 per barrel," Maneesh Sharma, AVP - Commodities & Currencies, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers, said.


"The local currency ... was comforted by a dip in oil prices after the White House said President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran war," Sharma said.

Meanwhile, expectation that HDB Financial IPO is likely to witness significant inflows is seen as positive for the rupee as broad range of 86.20-86.70 may persist during start of the next week, he added.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.30 per cent lower at 98.60.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,046.30 points to settle at 82,408.17, while Nifty surged 319.15 points to 25,112.40.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 2.36 per cent to USD 76.99 per barrel in futures trade.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 934.62 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.