The Indian rupee fell 5 paise and ended at 83.56 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, spurring the idea of a weak tone in the domestic markets coupled with a rise in the prices of crude oil, which led to a fall in the INR vs USD rate. The forex traders observed that the rupee opened in slightly negative territory, possibly due to profit selling in the domestic stock markets, which may bring in foreign fund selling.
Operational at the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit commenced the day at 83.49 in the INR vs USD chart. However, it was negatively affected and came down to an intraday low of 83.59 as to the American currency in the course of the trading session. This dropped even further to the rupee to settle at 83.56 (provisional), which is lower by 5 paise from its yesterday close.
At the same time, on the foreign exchange market, the US dollar index, which compares the dollar with a basket of six other major currencies, was 0.16 per cent lower at 104.87. This reveals that there has been a slight decline in the dollar index, which pretty much suggests that the dollar has been slightly weakened in the global foreign markets.
On the other hand, the Brent crude futures, which is the international reference price for oil, was trading 0.24 percent higher at USD 85.28 per barrel. There was pressure from the increase in crude oil prices because, with higher prices, the import bill of India increases, which is a large importer of crude oil.
The 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange index BSE Sensex of the domestic equity market closed the day 27.43 points, or 0.03 percent lower, and it recorded 79297.34 points. Likewise, the larger NSE Nifty closed at 8.50 points, or 0.03 percent, down at 24,315.95 points. For the current period, a marginal decrease in both indices can be attributed to investors’ conservative attitude due to global and domestic issues.
However, it was a downgrade in the equity markets, yet FIIs remained net buyers in the capital markets today on Wednesday. In line with exchange data, wherever FIIs bought shares to the value of Rs 583.96 crore, a fact that speaks volumes about unabated passion for Indian equities notwithstanding derivatives trading and short-term volatility.
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