Rs soars 73 paise to 86.05 against $, Sensex rises marginally by 150 pts

Mumbai: The rupee recovered from record low level and closed with a steep gain of 73 paise at 86.05 against the US dollar as global crude oil prices went down following hopes of deescalation in Middle East tensions.

A weak greenback and positive sentiments in the domestic equity markets further boosted the local unit, according to forex traders.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, plummeted 3.19 per cent to $69.20 per barrel in futures trade as US President Donald Trump announced that Iran and Israel agreed to a ceasefire.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 86.07 against the US dollar and traded in the range of 85.91-86.27 before closing at 86.05, up 73 paise from its previous close.

The rupee had plunged 23 paise to close at a five-month low of 86.78 against the US dollar on Monday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.48 per cent lower at 97.94.

In the domestic equity market, Sensex and Nifty on Tuesday gave up most of their sharp intra-day gains due to the emergence of profit-taking as investors turned cautious amid reports of a ceasefire violation between Iran and Israel.

In the morning trade, markets bounced back sharply, mirroring a rally in global peers and a steep decline in crude oil prices amid hopes of a potential de-escalation in the Middle East conflict.

After surging 1,121.37 points or 1.36 per cent to 83,018.16 in intra-day trade, the 30-share Sensex later trimmed most of its gains as reports surfaced of the ceasefire plan faltering. But, the benchmark still managed to settle in the green, climbing 158.32 points or 0.19 per cent to 82,055.11.

As many as 2,662 stocks advanced and 1,339 declined while 143 remained unchanged on the BSE.

On similar lines, the 50-share Nifty rose 72.45 points or 0.29 per cent to end at 25,044.35.

The index fell from an intra-day high of 25,317.70.

From the Sensex constituents, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv and Titan were among the biggest gainers.

In contrast, Power Grid, Trent, NTPC, Maruti, HCL Tech and Bharat Electronics were among the laggards.

Shares of crude oil sensitive sectors — oil marketing companies, aviation, paints and adhesives — jumped on Tuesday after a sharp correction in Brent crude oil prices.

The BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.71 per cent and the midcap index rose 0.54 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, services jumped 2.13 per cent, telecommunication (1.13 per cent), commodities (1.12 per cent), metal (0.96 per cent), financial services (0.81 per cent), bankex (0.72 per cent) and auto (0.62 per cent).

On the other hand, IT, oil & gas, tech and BSE Focused IT were the laggards.