Rupee jumps 53 paise to 82.35 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee appreciated by 53 paise to close at 82.35 against the US dollar on Friday, as the greenback retreated from its elevated levels.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.85 and finally settled at 82.35 against the American currency, registering a rise of 53 paise over its previous close amid a positive trend in domestic equities.

On Thursday, the rupee had closed 8 paise lower at

82.88.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.34 per cent to 112.54.

"Euro and Pound too recovered on Friday from intraday lows as broader dollar retraced against its major crosses," said Gaurang Somaiya, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

On Thursday, pound fell sharply against the US dollar after the Bank of England raised rates by 75 bps.

"We expect the USD-INR (Spot) to trade sideways and quote in the range of 82.50 and 83.30," Somaiya added.

On equity market front, the Sensex and Nifty eked out modest gains on Friday after a two-session sliding streak, propped up by firm Asian markets and buying from foreign institutional investors.

Overcoming a wobbly start, the 30-share BSE Sensex gained momentum as the session progressed to close 113.95 points or 0.19 per cent higher at 60,950.36.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 64.45 points or 0.36 per cent to 18,117.15.

Bajaj Finserv topped the Sensex gainers' chart, jumping 4.55 per cent, followed by UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, SBI, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and Wipro.

In contrast, Dr Reddy's, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, NTPC, PowerGrid and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards, shedding up to 1.49 per cent.

The market breadth was in favour of the bulls, with 18 of the 30 Sensex counters closing in the green.

On a weekly basis, the Sensex jumped 990.51 points or 1.65 per cent, while the Nifty climbed 330.35 points or 1.85 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge advanced 0.41 per cent and the midcap index closed unchanged.

Sector-wise, the BSE metal index spurted 2.90 per cent, followed by commodities, energy, industrials, capital goods and power. Healthcare, IT, teck, consumer durables and bankex logged losses.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 2.34 per cent higher at $96.89 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Thursday as they bought shares worth Rs 677.62 crore, as per exchange data.