Rs rises 48 paise to close at 82.33 against dollar

Mumbai: The rupee appreciated by 48 paise to close at 82.33 against the US dollar on Thursday as the greenback retreated from its elevated levels.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 82.15 and witnessed a high of 82.14 and a low of 82.51.

It finally settled at 82.33 against the American currency, registering a rise of 48 paise over its last close.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the rupee appreciated by 7 paise to 82.81 against the dollar.

The forex market was closed on Wednesday on account of Diwali Balipratipada.

"Rupee rose sharply as the dollar plunged against its major crosses. Weaker-than-expected economic data from the US led to a retracement in the dollar," said Gaurang Somaiya, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

The expectation is that the US Federal Reserve will slow the pace of its rate hiking cycle. This sent the euro back above parity with the greenback for the first time in a month, Somaiya added.

The pound extended its gains on optimism that Rishi Sunak and his team will restore stability and credibility in the UK.

"We expect the USD/INR(Spot) to quote in the range of 82.10 and 82.50," Somaiya said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was quoted 0.36 per cent higher at 110.09.

On domestic equity market front, benchmarks Sensex and Nifty darted up on Thursday, propped up by robust buying in metal, realty and energy stocks amid a mixed trend in global equities.

The 30-share BSE benchmark climbed 212.88 points or 0.36 per cent to settle at 59,756.84. During the day, it jumped 415.98 points or 0.69 per cent to 59,959.94.

On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 80.60 points or 0.46 per cent to end at 17,736.95.

Tata Steel was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 3.02 per cent, followed by Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Titan, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's and NTPC.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra and Nestle were among the laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge ended 0.44 per cent higher and smallcap index climbed 0.41 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, metal rallied 3.02 per cent, followed by realty (2.95 per cent), utilities (1.85 per cent), power (1.84 per cent), commodities (1.37 per cent), energy (1.14 per cent), oil & gas (1.39 per cent) and energy (1.14 per cent). IT and teck were the only laggards.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.13 per cent higher at $95.79 per barrel.