Rupee appreciates 37 paise to close at 82.45 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee gained 37 paise to close at 82.45 against the US dollar on Thursday, supported by a weaker greenback overseas.

Forex traders said factors like strong Asian peers and crude oil prices trading below $80 per barrel also helped the currency.

However, sustained foreign fund outflows and a weak trend in domestic equities dented investor sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.75 and touched an intra-day high of 82.50 and a low of 82.80 against the greenback.

It finally ended at 82.45, registering a rise of 37 paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee recovered from its all-time low level and settled at 82.82 against the dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, declined 0.06 per cent to 104.18.

“The Indian rupee gained for a second day in trot supported by a weaker greenback and stronger regional peers. However, the gain was curtailed amid foreign fund outflows...,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

The December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes barely affected the forex market as nothing new came from the minutes, he added.

On the domestic equity market front, paring initial gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 304.18 points or 0.50 per cent to close at 60,353.27.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty dipped 50.80 points or 0.28 per cent to end at 17,992.15.

Bajaj Finance was the top loser among Sensex constituents, plunging 7.21 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Power Grid, Titan, Axis Bank, and Tech Mahindra.

In contrast, ITC, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nestle India, Sun Pharma and Tata Steel were among the gainers, climbing as much as 1.91 per cent.

The market breadth was negative, with 18 declines compared to 12 advances.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.33 per cent and smallcap index inched up 0.01 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, financial services declined 1 per cent, bankex dipped 0.78 per cent, teck (0.61 per cent), IT (0.61 per cent) and telecommunication (0.20 per cent).

Oil & Gas rallied 1.60 per cent, FMCG climbed 1.36 per cent, energy jumped 1.28 per cent, auto 1.12 per cent and metal 1.03 per cent.

International oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 2.04 per cent to $79.43 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth a net Rs 2,620.89 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.