Mumbai: The Indian currency on Wednesday weakened but held its ground a against the two-decade high dollar.
At the interbank forex exchange the domestic currency opened at 79.93 per dollar. It hovered in a range of 79.84 to 79.94 during the session, and finally settled at 79.89, down 7 paise over its previous close of 79.82.
The US Dollar surged as economic data from the US surprised the markets. The US ISM services PMI unexpectedly rose to 56.9 in August from 56.7 in July.
USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 79 to Rs 80.50 in the next couple of sessions.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.16 per cent higher at 110.39. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced by 0.54 per cent to USD 93.33 per barrel.